Method and apparatus for sensing a condition in a transmission medium of electromagnetic waves

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a device that facilitates transmitting electromagnetic waves along a surface of a wire that facilitates delivery of electric energy to devices, and sensing a condition that is adverse to the electromagnetic waves propagating along the surface of the wire. Other embodiments are disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/486,268, filed Sep. 15, 2014, the contents ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference into this application as ifset forth herein in full.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The subject disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for sensing acondition in a transmission medium of electromagnetic waves.

BACKGROUND

As smart phones and other portable devices increasingly becomeubiquitous, and data usage increases, macrocell base station devices andexisting wireless infrastructure in turn require higher bandwidthcapability in order to address the increased demand. To provideadditional mobile bandwidth, small cell deployment is being pursued,with microcells and picocells providing coverage for much smaller areasthan traditional macrocells.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a guided wave communications system in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a dielectric waveguide coupler in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a dielectric waveguide coupler in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a dielectric waveguide coupler in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a dielectric waveguide coupler and transceiver inaccordance with various aspects described herein.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a dual dielectric waveguide coupler in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a bidirectional dielectric waveguide coupler in accordancewith various aspects described herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a bidirectional dielectric waveguide coupler in accordancewith various aspects described herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a bidirectional repeater system in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10C are block diagrams illustrating example,non-limiting embodiments of a slotted waveguide coupler in accordancewith various aspects described herein.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a waveguide coupling system in accordance with variousaspects described herein

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a waveguide coupling system in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method for transmitting a transmission with a dielectricwaveguide coupler as described herein.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a waveguide system in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIGS. 15A, 15B, 15C, 15D, 15E, 15F and 15G illustrate example,non-limiting embodiments of sources for conditions detectable by thewaveguide system of FIG. 14 as described herein.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a system for managing a power grid communication system inaccordance with various aspects described herein.

FIG. 17 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method for detecting and mitigating conditions occurringin a communication network of the system of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18A illustrates an example, non-limiting embodiment for mitigatinga condition detected by the waveguide system of FIG. 14 as describedherein.

FIG. 18B illustrates another example, non-limiting embodiment formitigating a condition detected by the waveguide system of FIG. 14 asdescribed herein.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of amobile network platform in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of acommunication device in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more embodiments are now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide athorough understanding of the various embodiments. It is evident,however, that the various embodiments can be practiced without thesedetails (and without applying to any particular networked environment orstandard).

To provide network connectivity to additional base station devices, thebackhaul network that links the communication cells (e.g., microcellsand macrocells) to network devices of the core network correspondinglyexpands. Similarly, to provide network connectivity to a distributedantenna system, an extended communication system that links base stationdevices and their distributed antennas is desirable. A guided wavecommunication system can be provided to enable alternative, increased oradditional network connectivity and a waveguide coupling system can beprovided to transmit and/or receive guided wave (e.g., surface wave)communications on a wire, such as a wire that operates as a single-wiretransmission line (e.g., a utility line), that operates as a waveguideand/or that otherwise operates to guide the transmission of anelectromagnetic wave.

In an embodiment, a waveguide coupler that is utilized in a waveguidecoupling system can be made of a dielectric material, or other low-lossinsulator (e.g., Teflon, polyethylene and etc.), or even be made of aconducting (e.g., metallic, non-metallic, etc.) material, or anycombination of the foregoing materials. Reference throughout thedetailed description to “dielectric waveguide” is for illustrationpurposes and does not limit embodiments to being constructed solely ofdielectric materials. In other embodiments, other dielectric orinsulating materials are possible. It will be appreciated that a varietyof transmission media can be utilized with guided wave communicationswithout departing from example embodiments. Examples of suchtransmission media can include one or more of the following, eitheralone or in one or more combinations: wires, whether insulated or not,and whether single-stranded or multi-stranded; conductors of othershapes or configurations including wire bundles, cables, rods, rails,pipes; non-conductors such as dielectric pipes, rods, rails, or otherdielectric members; combinations of conductors and dielectric materials;or other guided wave transmission media.

For these and/or other considerations, in one or more embodiments, anapparatus comprises a waveguide that facilitates propagation of a firstelectromagnetic wave at least in part on a waveguide surface, whereinthe waveguide surface does not surround in whole or in substantial parta wire surface of a wire, and, in response to the waveguide beingpositioned with respect to the wire, the first electromagnetic wavecouples at least in part to the wire surface and travels at leastpartially around the wire surface as a second electromagnetic wave, andwherein the second electromagnetic wave has at least one wavepropagation mode for propagating longitudinally along the wire.

In another embodiment, an apparatus comprises a waveguide that has awaveguide surface that defines a cross sectional area of the waveguidewherein a wire is positioned outside of the cross-sectional area of thewaveguide such that a first electromagnetic wave, traveling along thewire at least in part on the wire surface, couples at least in part tothe waveguide surface and travels at least partially around thewaveguide surface as a second electromagnetic wave.

In an embodiment, a method comprises emitting, by a transmission device,a first electromagnetic wave that propagates at least in part on awaveguide surface of a waveguide, wherein the waveguide is not coaxiallyaligned with a wire. The method can also include configuring thewaveguide in proximity of the wire to facilitate coupling of at least apart of the first electromagnetic wave to a wire surface, forming asecond electromagnetic wave that propagates longitudinally along thewire and at least partially around the wire surface.

In another embodiment, an apparatus comprises, in one or moreembodiments, a waveguide having a slot formed by opposing slot surfacesthat are non-parallel, wherein the opposing slot surfaces are separatedby a distance that enables insertion of a wire in the slot, wherein thewaveguide facilitates propagation of a first electromagnetic wave atleast in part on a waveguide surface, and, in response to the waveguidebeing positioned with respect to the wire, the first electromagneticwave couples at least in part to a wire surface of the wire and travelsat least partially around the wire surface as a second electromagneticwave for propagating longitudinally along the wire, and wherein thesecond electromagnetic wave has at least one wave propagation mode.

In another embodiment, an apparatus comprises, in one or moreembodiments, a waveguide, wherein the waveguide comprises a materialthat is not electrically conductive and is suitable for propagatingelectromagnetic waves on a waveguide surface of the waveguide, whereinthe waveguide facilitates propagation of a first electromagnetic wave atleast in part on the waveguide surface, and, in response to thewaveguide being positioned with respect to a wire, the firstelectromagnetic wave couples at least in part to a wire surface of thewire and travels at least partially around the wire surface as a secondelectromagnetic wave, and wherein the second electromagnetic wave has atleast one wave propagation mode for propagating longitudinally along thewire.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes an apparatus having awaveguide that facilitates transmission or reception of electromagneticwaves along a wire surface of a wire of a power grid that alsofacilitates delivery of electric energy to devices. The apparatus canfurther include one or more sensors that facilitate sensing of acondition that is adverse to the waveguide, the wire, the transmissionor reception of electromagnetic waves that propagate along the wiresurface or waveguide surface, or any combination thereof. The apparatuscan also include a processor that facilitates processing of sensing datafrom the one or more sensors and control of the transmission orreception of electromagnetic waves.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes a method fortransmitting, by an apparatus comprising a waveguide and a sensor,electromagnetic waves that propagate along a wire surface of a wire thatfacilitates delivery of electric energy to devices, and sensing, by thesensor, a condition that is adverse to the electromagnetic waves thatpropagate along the wire surface.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes a machine-readable(e.g., computer-readable, processor-readable, etc.) storage mediumhaving executable instructions that, when executed by a processor,facilitate performance of operations, including inducing with awaveguide electromagnetic waves along a surface of a transmissionmedium, and collecting sensing data from a sensor. The sensing data canbe associated with a condition that is adverse to the electromagneticwaves guided along the surface of the transmission medium.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes an apparatus having aprocessor and a memory. The processor can perform an operation ofreceiving telemetry information from a waveguide system coupled to asensor, detecting from the telemetry information a condition that isadverse to one of operations of the waveguide system, the transmissionor reception of the electromagnetic waves along the wire surface or thewaveguide surface, or a combination thereof, and reporting thecondition. The waveguide system can comprise a waveguide that can bepositioned with respect to a wire of a power grid that facilitatesdelivery of electric energy to devices. The waveguide can alsofacilitate transmission or reception of electromagnetic waves along awire surface of the wire, while the sensor can facilitate sensingconditions adverse to electromagnetic waves.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes a method forreceiving, by a network element comprising a processor, telemetryinformation from a waveguide system, determining, by the networkelement, a condition from sensing data included in the telemetryinformation, and transmitting, by the network element, instructions tothe waveguide system to adjust a route of the electromagnetic waves toavoid or compensate for the condition determined. The waveguide systemcan facilitate transmission of electromagnetic waves along a wiresurface of a wire of a power grid and sensing of conditions adverse tothe transmission or reception of the electromagnetic waves.

One embodiment of the subject disclosure includes a machine-readable(e.g., computer-readable, processor-readable, etc.) storage mediumhaving executable instructions that, when executed by a processor,facilitate performance of operations, including receiving telemetryinformation from an apparatus that induces electromagnetic waves on awire surface of a wire of a power grid for delivery of communicationsignals to a recipient communication device coupled to the power grid,and detecting a condition from the telemetry information that is adverseto a delivery of the communication signals to the recipientcommunication device.

Various embodiments described herein relate to a waveguide couplingsystem for launching and extracting guided wave (e.g., surface wavecommunications that are electromagnetic waves) transmissions from awire. At millimeter-wave frequencies (e.g., 30 to 300 GHz), wherein thewavelength can be small compared to the size of the equipment,transmissions can propagate as waves guided by a waveguide, such as astrip or length of dielectric material or other coupler. Theelectromagnetic field structure of the guided wave can be inside and/oroutside of the waveguide. When this waveguide is brought into closeproximity to a wire (e.g., a utility line or other transmission line),at least a portion of the guided waves decouples from the waveguide andcouples to the wire, and continue to propagate as guided waves, such assurface waves about the surface of the wire.

According to an example embodiment, a surface wave is a type of guidedwave that is guided by a surface of the wire, which can include anexterior or outer surface of the wire, or another surface of the wirethat is adjacent to or exposed to another type of medium havingdifferent properties (e.g., dielectric properties). Indeed, in anexample embodiment, a surface of the wire that guides a surface wave canrepresent a transitional surface between two different types of media.For example, in the case of a bare or uninsulated wire, the surface ofthe wire can be the outer or exterior conductive surface of the bare oruninsulated wire that is exposed to air or free space. As anotherexample, in the case of insulated wire, the surface of the wire can bethe conductive portion of the wire that meets the insulator portion ofthe wire, or can otherwise be the insulator surface of the wire that isexposed to air or free space, or can otherwise be any material regionbetween the insulator surface of the wire and the conductive portion ofthe wire that meets the insulator portion of the wire, depending uponthe relative differences in the properties (e.g., dielectric properties)of the insulator, air, and/or the conductor and further dependent on thefrequency and propagation mode or modes of the guided wave.

According to an example embodiment, guided waves such as surface wavescan be contrasted with radio transmissions over free space/air orconventional propagation of electrical power or signals through theconductor of the wire. Indeed, with surface wave or guided wave systemsdescribed herein, conventional electrical power or signals can stillpropagate or be transmitted through the conductor of the wire, whileguided waves (including surface waves and other electromagnetic waves)can propagate or be transmitted about the surface of the wire, accordingto an example embodiment. In an embodiment, a surface wave can have afield structure (e.g., an electromagnetic field structure) that liesprimarily or substantially outside of the line, wire, or transmissionmedium that serves to guide the surface wave.

According to an example embodiment, the electromagnetic waves travelingalong the wire and around the outer surface of the wire are induced byother electromagnetic waves traveling along a waveguide in proximity tothe wire. The inducement of the electromagnetic waves can be independentof any electrical potential, charge or current that is injected orotherwise transmitted through the wires as part of an electricalcircuit. It is to be appreciated that while a small current in the wiremay be formed in response to the propagation of the electromagnetic wavealong the wire, this can be due to the propagation of theelectromagnetic wave along the wire surface, and is not formed inresponse to electrical potential, charge or current that is injectedinto the wire as part of an electrical circuit. The electromagneticwaves traveling on the wire therefore do not require a circuit topropagate along the wire surface. The wire therefore is a single wiretransmission line that is not part of a circuit. Also, in someembodiments, a wire is not necessary, and the electromagnetic waves canpropagate along a single line transmission medium that is not a wire.

According to an example embodiment, the term “about” a wire used inconjunction with a guided wave (e.g., surface wave) can includefundamental wave propagation modes and other guided waves having acircular or substantially circular field distribution (e.g., electricfield, magnetic field, electromagnetic field, etc.) at least partiallyaround a wire or other transmission medium. In addition, when a guidedwave propagates “about” a wire or other transmission medium, it can doso according to a wave propagation mode that includes not only thefundamental wave propagation modes (e.g., zero order modes), butadditionally or alternatively other non-fundamental wave propagationmodes such as higher-order guided wave modes (e.g., 1^(st) order modes,2^(nd) order modes, etc.), asymmetrical modes and/or other guided (e.g.,surface) waves that have non-circular field distributions around a wireor other transmission medium.

For example, such non-circular field distributions can be unilateral ormulti-lateral with one or more axial lobes characterized by relativelyhigher field strength and/or one or more nulls or null regionscharacterized by relatively low-field strength, zero-field strength orsubstantially zero field strength. Further, the field distribution canotherwise vary as a function of a longitudinal axial orientation aroundthe wire such that one or more regions of axial orientation around thewire have an electric or magnetic field strength (or combinationthereof) that is higher than one or more other regions of axialorientation, according to an example embodiment. It will be appreciatedthat the relative positions of the wave higher order modes orasymmetrical modes can vary as the guided wave travels along the wire.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a guided wave communication system 100 isshown. Guided wave communication system 100 depicts an exemplaryenvironment in which a dielectric waveguide coupling system can be used.

Guided wave communication system 100 can be a distributed antenna systemthat includes one or more base station devices (e.g., base stationdevice 104) that are communicably coupled to a macrocell site 102 orother network connection. Base station device 104 can be connected by awired (e.g., fiber and/or cable), or by a wireless (e.g., microwavewireless) connection to macrocell site 102. Macrocells such as macrocellsite 102 can have dedicated connections to the mobile network and basestation device 104 can share and/or otherwise use macrocell site 102'sconnection. Base station device 104 can be mounted on, or attached to,utility pole 116. In other embodiments, base station device 104 can benear transformers and/or other locations situated nearby a power line.

Base station device 104 can facilitate connectivity to a mobile networkfor mobile devices 122 and 124. Antennas 112 and 114, mounted on or nearutility poles 118 and 120, respectively, can receive signals from basestation device 104 and transmit those signals to mobile devices 122 and124 over a much wider area than if the antennas 112 and 114 were locatedat or near base station device 104.

It is noted that FIG. 1 displays three utility poles, with one basestation device, for purposes of simplicity. In other embodiments,utility pole 116 can have more base station devices, and one or moreutility poles with distributed antennas are possible.

A dielectric waveguide coupling device 106 can transmit the signal frombase station device 104 to antennas 112 and 114 via utility or powerline(s) that connect the utility poles 116, 118, and 120. To transmitthe signal, radio source and/or coupler 106 upconverts the signal (e.g.,via frequency mixing) from base station device 104 or otherwise convertsthe signal from the base station device 104 to a millimeter-wave bandsignal and the dielectric waveguide coupling device 106 launches amillimeter-wave band wave that propagates as a guided wave (e.g.,surface wave or other electromagnetic wave) traveling along the utilityline or other wire. At utility pole 118, another dielectric waveguidecoupling device 108 receives the guided wave (and optionally can amplifyit as needed or desired or operate as a digital repeater to receive itand regenerate it) and sends it forward as a guided wave (e.g., surfacewave or other electromagnetic wave) on the utility line or other wire.The dielectric waveguide coupling device 108 can also extract a signalfrom the millimeter-wave band guided wave and shift it down in frequencyor otherwise convert it to its original cellular band frequency (e.g.,1.9 GHz or other defined cellular frequency) or another cellular (ornon-cellular) band frequency. An antenna 112 can transmit (e.g.,wirelessly transmit) the downshifted signal to mobile device 122. Theprocess can be repeated by dielectric waveguide coupling device 110,antenna 114 and mobile device 124, as necessary or desirable.

Transmissions from mobile devices 122 and 124 can also be received byantennas 112 and 114 respectively. Repeaters on dielectric waveguidecoupling devices 108 and 110 can upshift or otherwise convert thecellular band signals to millimeter-wave band and transmit the signalsas guided wave (e.g., surface wave or other electromagnetic wave)transmissions over the power line(s) to base station device 104.

In an example embodiment, system 100 can employ diversity paths, wheretwo or more utility lines or other wires are strung between the utilitypoles 116, 118, and 120 (e.g., for example, two or more wires betweenpoles 116 and 120) and redundant transmissions from base station 104 aretransmitted as guided waves down the surface of the utility lines orother wires. The utility lines or other wires can be either insulated oruninsulated, and depending on the environmental conditions that causetransmission losses, the coupling devices can selectively receivesignals from the insulated or uninsulated utility lines or other wires.The selection can be based on measurements of the signal-to-noise ratioof the wires, or based on determined weather/environmental conditions(e.g., moisture detectors, weather forecasts, etc.). The use ofdiversity paths with system 100 can enable alternate routingcapabilities, load balancing, increased load handling, concurrentbi-directional or synchronous communications, spread spectrumcommunications, etc. (See FIG. 8 for more illustrative details).

It is noted that the use of the dielectric waveguide coupling devices106, 108, and 110 in FIG. 1 are by way of example only, and that inother embodiments, other uses are possible. For instance, dielectricwaveguide coupling devices can be used in a backhaul communicationsystem, providing network connectivity to base station devices.Dielectric waveguide coupling devices can be used in many circumstanceswhere it is desirable to transmit guided wave communications over awire, whether insulated or not insulated. Dielectric waveguide couplingdevices are improvements over other coupling devices due to no contactor limited physical and/or electrical contact with the wires that maycarry high voltages. With dielectric waveguide coupling devices, theapparatus can be located away from the wire (e.g., spaced apart from thewire) and/or located on the wire so long as it is not electrically incontact with the wire, as the dielectric acts as an insulator, allowingfor cheap, easy, and/or less complex installation. However, aspreviously noted conducting or non-dielectric couplers can be employed,for example in configurations where the wires correspond to a telephonenetwork, cable television network, broadband data service, fiber opticcommunications system or other network employing low voltages or havinginsulated transmission lines.

It is further noted, that while base station device 104 and macrocellsite 102 are illustrated in an embodiment, other network configurationsare likewise possible. For example, devices such as access points orother wireless gateways can be employed in a similar fashion to extendthe reach of other networks such as a wireless local area network, awireless personal area network or other wireless network that operatesin accordance with a communication protocol such as a 802.11 protocol,WIMAX protocol, UltraWideband protocol, Bluetooth protocol, ZigBeeprotocol or other wireless protocol.

Turning now to FIG. 2, illustrated is a block diagram of an example,non-limiting embodiment of a dielectric waveguide coupling system 200 inaccordance with various aspects described herein. System 200 comprises adielectric waveguide 204 that has a wave 206 propagating as a guidedwave about a waveguide surface of the dielectric waveguide 204. In anembodiment, the dielectric waveguide 204 is curved, and at least aportion of the waveguide 204 can be placed near a wire 202 in order tofacilitate coupling between the waveguide 204 and the wire 202, asdescribed herein. The dielectric waveguide 204 can be placed such that aportion of the curved dielectric waveguide 204 is parallel orsubstantially parallel to the wire 202. The portion of the dielectricwaveguide 204 that is parallel to the wire can be an apex of the curve,or any point where a tangent of the curve is parallel to the wire 202.When the dielectric waveguide 204 is positioned or placed thusly, thewave 206 travelling along the dielectric waveguide 204 couples, at leastin part, to the wire 202, and propagates as guided wave 208 around orabout the wire surface of the wire 202 and longitudinally along the wire202. The guided wave 208 can be characterized as a surface wave or otherelectromagnetic wave, although other types of guided waves 208 cansupported as well without departing from example embodiments. A portionof the wave 206 that does not couple to the wire 202 propagates as wave210 along the dielectric waveguide 204. It will be appreciated that thedielectric waveguide 204 can be configured and arranged in a variety ofpositions in relation to the wire 202 to achieve a desired level ofcoupling or non-coupling of the wave 206 to the wire 202. For example,the curvature and/or length of the dielectric waveguide 2014 that isparallel or substantially parallel, as well as its separation distance(which can include zero separation distance in an embodiment), to thewire 202 can be varied without departing for example embodiments.Likewise, the arrangement of dielectric waveguide 204 in relation to thewire 202 may be varied based upon considerations of the respectiveintrinsic characteristics (e.g., thickness, composition, electromagneticproperties, etc.) of the wire 202 and the dielectric waveguide 204, aswell as the characteristics (e.g., frequency, energy level, etc.) of thewaves 206 and 208.

The guided wave 208 stays parallel or substantially parallel to the wire202, even as the wire 202 bends and flexes. Bends in the wire 202 canincrease transmission losses, which are also dependent on wirediameters, frequency, and materials. If the dimensions of the dielectricwaveguide 204 are chosen for efficient power transfer, most of the powerin the wave 206 is transferred to the wire 202, with little powerremaining in wave 210. It will be appreciated that the guided wave 208can still be multi-modal in nature (discussed herein), including havingmodes that are non-fundamental or asymmetric, while traveling along apath that is parallel or substantially parallel to the wire 202, with orwithout a fundamental transmission mode. In an embodiment,non-fundamental or asymmetric modes can be utilized to minimizetransmission losses and/or obtain increased propagation distances.

It is noted that the term parallel is generally a geometric constructwhich often is not exactly achievable in real systems. Accordingly, theterm parallel as utilized in the subject disclosure represents anapproximation rather than an exact configuration when used to describeembodiments disclosed in the subject disclosure. In an embodiment,substantially parallel can include approximations that are within 30degrees of true parallel in all dimensions.

In an embodiment, the wave 206 can exhibit one or more wave propagationmodes. The dielectric waveguide modes can be dependent on the shapeand/or design of the waveguide 204. The one or more dielectric waveguidemodes of wave 206 can generate, influence, or impact one or more wavepropagation modes of the guided wave 208 propagating along wire 202. Inan embodiment, the wave propagation modes on the wire 202 can be similarto the dielectric waveguide modes since both waves 206 and 208 propagateabout the outside of the dielectric waveguide 204 and wire 202respectively. In some embodiments, as the wave 206 couples to the wire202, the modes can change form, or new modes can be created orgenerated, due to the coupling between the dielectric waveguide 204 andthe wire 202. For example, differences in size, material, and/orimpedances of the dielectric waveguide 204 and wire 202 may createadditional modes not present in the dielectric waveguide modes and/orsuppress some of the dielectric waveguide modes. The wave propagationmodes can comprise the fundamental transverse electromagnetic mode(Quasi-TEM₀₀), where only small electric and/or magnetic fields extendin the direction of propagation, and the electric and magnetic fieldsextend radially outwards while the guided wave propagates along thewire. This guided wave mode can be donut shaped, where few of theelectromagnetic fields exist within the dielectric waveguide 204 or wire202.

Waves 206 and 208 can comprise a fundamental TEM mode where the fieldsextend radially outwards, and also comprise other, non-fundamental(e.g., asymmetric, higher-level, etc.) modes. While particular wavepropagation modes are discussed above, other wave propagation modes arelikewise possible such as transverse electric (TE) and transversemagnetic (TM) modes, based on the frequencies employed, the design ofthe dielectric waveguide 204, the dimensions and composition of the wire202, as well as its surface characteristics, its optional insulation,the electromagnetic properties of the surrounding environment, etc. Itshould be noted that, depending on the frequency, the electrical andphysical characteristics of the wire 202 and the particular wavepropagation modes that are generated, guided wave 208 can travel alongthe conductive surface of an oxidized uninsulated wire, an unoxidizeduninsulated wire, an insulated wire and/or along the insulating surfaceof an insulated wire.

In an embodiment, a diameter of the dielectric waveguide 204 is smallerthan the diameter of the wire 202. For the millimeter-band wavelengthbeing used, the dielectric waveguide 204 supports a single waveguidemode that makes up wave 206. This single waveguide mode can change as itcouples to the wire 202 as surface 208. If the dielectric waveguide 204were larger, more than one waveguide mode can be supported, but theseadditional waveguide modes may not couple to the wire 202 asefficiently, and higher coupling losses can result. However, in somealternative embodiments, the diameter of the dielectric waveguide 204can be equal to or larger than the diameter of the wire 202, forexample, where higher coupling losses are desirable or when used inconjunction with other techniques to otherwise reduce coupling losses(e.g., impedance matching with tapering, etc.).

In an embodiment, the wavelength of the waves 206 and 208 are comparablein size, or smaller than a circumference of the dielectric waveguide 204and the wire 202. In an example, if the wire 202 has a diameter of 0.5cm, and a corresponding circumference of around 1.5 cm, the wavelengthof the transmission is around 1.5 cm or less, corresponding to afrequency of 20 GHz or greater. In another embodiment, a suitablefrequency of the transmission and the carrier-wave signal is in therange of 30-100 GHz, perhaps around 30-60 GHz, and around 38 GHz in oneexample. In an embodiment, when the circumference of the dielectricwaveguide 204 and wire 202 is comparable in size to, or greater, than awavelength of the transmission, the waves 206 and 208 can exhibitmultiple wave propagation modes including fundamental and/ornon-fundamental (symmetric and/or asymmetric) modes that propagate oversufficient distances to support various communication systems describedherein. The waves 206 and 208 can therefore comprise more than one typeof electric and magnetic field configuration. In an embodiment, as theguided wave 208 propagates down the wire 202, the electrical andmagnetic field configurations will remain the same from end to end ofthe wire 202. In other embodiments, as the guided wave 208 encountersinterference or loses energy due to transmission losses, the electricand magnetic field configurations can change as the guided wave 208propagates down wire 202.

In an embodiment, the dielectric waveguide 204 can be composed of nylon,Teflon, polyethylene, a polyamide, or other plastics. In otherembodiments, other dielectric materials are possible. The wire surfaceof wire 202 can be metallic with either a bare metallic surface, or canbe insulated using plastic, dielectric, insulator or other sheathing. Inan embodiment, a dielectric or otherwise non-conducting/insulatedwaveguide can be paired with either a bare/metallic wire or insulatedwire. In other embodiments, a metallic and/or conductive waveguide canbe paired with a bare/metallic wire or insulated wire. In an embodiment,an oxidation layer on the bare metallic surface of the wire 202 (e.g.,resulting from exposure of the bare metallic surface to oxygen/air) canalso provide insulating or dielectric properties similar to thoseprovided by some insulators or sheathings.

It is noted that the graphical representations of waves 206, 208 and 210are presented merely to illustrate the principles that wave 206 inducesor otherwise launches a guided wave 208 on a wire 202 that operates, forexample, as a single wire transmission line. Wave 210 represents theportion of wave 206 that remains on the dielectric waveguide 204 afterthe generation of guided wave 208. The actual electric and magneticfields generated as a result of such wave propagation may vary dependingon the frequencies employed, the particular wave propagation mode ormodes, the design of the dielectric waveguide 204, the dimensions andcomposition of the wire 202, as well as its surface characteristics, itsoptional insulation, the electromagnetic properties of the surroundingenvironment, etc.

It is noted that dielectric waveguide 204 can include a terminationcircuit or damper 214 at the end of the dielectric waveguide 204 thatcan absorb leftover radiation or energy from wave 210. The terminationcircuit or damper 214 can prevent and/or minimize the leftover radiationor energy from wave 210 reflecting back toward transmitter circuit 212.In an embodiment, the termination circuit or damper 214 can includetermination resistors, and/or other components that perform impedancematching to attenuate reflection. In some embodiments, if the couplingefficiencies are high enough, and/or wave 210 is sufficiently small, itmay not be necessary to use a termination circuit or damper 214. For thesake of simplicity, these transmitter and termination circuits ordampers 212 and 214 are not depicted in the other figures, but in thoseembodiments, transmitter and termination circuits or dampers maypossibly be used.

Further, while a single dielectric waveguide 204 is presented thatgenerates a single guided wave 208, multiple dielectric waveguides 204placed at different points along the wire 202 and/or at different axialorientations about the wire can be employed to generate and receivemultiple guided waves 208 at the same or different frequencies, at thesame or different phases, at the same or different wave propagationmodes. The guided wave or waves 208 can be modulated to convey data viaa modulation technique such as phase shift keying, frequency shiftkeying, quadrature amplitude modulation, amplitude modulation,multi-carrier modulation and via multiple access techniques such asfrequency division multiplexing, time division multiplexing, codedivision multiplexing, multiplexing via differing wave propagation modesand via other modulation and access strategies.

Turning now to FIG. 3, illustrated is a block diagram of an example,non-limiting embodiment of a dielectric waveguide coupling system 300 inaccordance with various aspects described herein. System 300 comprises adielectric waveguide 304 and a wire 302 that has a wave 306 propagatingas a guided wave about a wire surface of the wire 302. In an exampleembodiment, the wave 306 can be characterized as a surface wave or otherelectromagnetic wave.

In an example embodiment, the dielectric waveguide 304 is curved orotherwise has a curvature, and can be placed near a wire 302 such that aportion of the curved dielectric waveguide 304 is parallel orsubstantially parallel to the wire 302. The portion of the dielectricwaveguide 304 that is parallel to the wire can be an apex of the curve,or any point where a tangent of the curve is parallel to the wire 302.When the dielectric waveguide 304 is near the wire, the guided wave 306travelling along the wire 302 can couple to the dielectric waveguide 304and propagate as guided wave 308 about the dielectric waveguide 304. Aportion of the guided wave 306 that does not couple to the dielectricwaveguide 304 propagates as guided wave 310 (e.g., surface wave or otherelectromagnetic wave) along the wire 302.

The guided waves 306 and 308 stay parallel to the wire 302 anddielectric waveguide 304, respectively, even as the wire 302 anddielectric waveguide 304 bend and flex. Bends can increase transmissionlosses, which are also dependent on wire diameters, frequency, andmaterials. If the dimensions of the dielectric waveguide 304 are chosenfor efficient power transfer, most of the energy in the guided wave 306is coupled to the dielectric waveguide 304 and little remains in guidedwave 310.

In an embodiment, a receiver circuit can be placed on the end ofwaveguide 304 in order to receive wave 308. A termination circuit can beplaced on the opposite end of the waveguide 304 in order to receiveguided waves traveling in the opposite direction to guided wave 306 thatcouple to the waveguide 304. The termination circuit would thus preventand/or minimize reflections being received by the receiver circuit. Ifthe reflections are small, the termination circuit may not be necessary.

It is noted that the dielectric waveguide 304 can be configured suchthat selected polarizations of the surface wave 306 are coupled to thedielectric waveguide 304 as guided wave 308. For instance, if guidedwave 306 is made up of guided waves or wave propagation modes withrespective polarizations, dielectric waveguide 304 can be configured toreceive one or more guided waves of selected polarization(s). Guidedwave 308 that couples to the dielectric waveguide 304 is thus the set ofguided waves that correspond to one or more of the selectedpolarization(s), and further guided wave 310 can comprise the guidedwaves that do not match the selected polarization(s).

The dielectric waveguide 304 can be configured to receive guided wavesof a particular polarization based on an angle/rotation around the wire302 that the dielectric waveguide 304 is placed. For instance, if theguided wave 306 is polarized horizontally, most of the guided wave 306transfers to the dielectric waveguide as wave 308. As the dielectricwaveguide 304 is rotated 90 degrees around the wire 302, though, most ofthe energy from guided wave 306 would remain coupled to the wire asguided wave 310, and only a small portion would couple to the wire 302as wave 308.

It is noted that waves 306, 308, and 310 are shown using three circularsymbols in FIG. 3 and in other figures in the specification. Thesesymbols are used to represent a general guided wave, but do not implythat the waves 306, 308, and 310 are necessarily circularly polarized orotherwise circularly oriented. In fact, waves 306, 308, and 310 cancomprise a fundamental TEM mode where the fields extend radiallyoutwards, and also comprise other, non-fundamental (e.g. higher-level,etc.) modes. These modes can be asymmetric (e.g., radial, bilateral,trilateral, quadrilateral, etc.,) in nature as well.

It is noted also that guided wave communications over wires can be fullduplex, allowing simultaneous communications in both directions. Wavestraveling one direction can pass through waves traveling in an oppositedirection. Electromagnetic fields may cancel out at certain points andfor short times due to the superposition principle as applied to waves.The waves traveling in opposite directions propagate as if the otherwaves weren't there, but the composite effect to an observer may be astationary standing wave pattern. As the guided waves pass through eachother and are no longer in a state of superposition, the interferencesubsides. As a guided wave (e.g., surface wave or other electromagneticwave) couples to a waveguide and move away from the wire, anyinterference due to other guided waves (e.g., surface waves or otherelectromagnetic wave) decreases. In an embodiment, as guided wave 306(e.g., surface wave or other electromagnetic wave) approaches dielectricwaveguide 304, another guided wave (e.g., surface wave or otherelectromagnetic wave) (not shown) traveling from left to right on thewire 302 passes by causing local interference. As guided wave 306couples to dielectric waveguide 304 as wave 308, and moves away from thewire 302, any interference due to the passing guided wave subsides.

It is noted that the graphical representations of waves 306, 308 and 310are presented merely to illustrate the principles that guided wave 306induces or otherwise launches a wave 308 on a dielectric waveguide 304.Guided wave 310 represents the portion of guided wave 306 that remainson the wire 302 after the generation of wave 308. The actual electricand magnetic fields generated as a result of such guided wavepropagation may vary depending on one or more of the shape and/or designof the dielectric waveguide, the relative position of the dielectricwaveguide to the wire, the frequencies employed, the design of thedielectric waveguide 304, the dimensions and composition of the wire302, as well as its surface characteristics, its optional insulation,the electromagnetic properties of the surrounding environment, etc.

Turning now to FIG. 4, illustrated is a block diagram of an example,non-limiting embodiment of a dielectric waveguide coupling system 400 inaccordance with various aspects described herein. System 400 comprises adielectric waveguide 404 that has a wave 406 propagating as a guidedwave about a waveguide surface of the dielectric waveguide 404. In anembodiment, the dielectric waveguide 404 is curved, and an end of thedielectric waveguide 404 can be tied, fastened, or otherwisemechanically coupled to a wire 402. When the end of the dielectricwaveguide 404 is fastened to the wire 402, the end of the dielectricwaveguide 404 is parallel or substantially parallel to the wire 402.Alternatively, another portion of the dielectric waveguide beyond an endcan be fastened or coupled to wire 402 such that the fastened or coupledportion is parallel or substantially parallel to the wire 402. Thecoupling device 410 can be a nylon cable tie or other type ofnon-conducting/dielectric material that is either separate from thedielectric waveguide 404 or constructed as an integrated component ofthe dielectric waveguide 404. The dielectric waveguide 404 can beadjacent to the wire 402 without surrounding the wire 402.

When the dielectric waveguide 404 is placed with the end parallel to thewire 402, the guided wave 406 travelling along the dielectric waveguide404 couples to the wire 402, and propagates as guided wave 408 about thewire surface of the wire 402. In an example embodiment, the guided wave408 can be characterized as a surface wave or other electromagneticwave.

It is noted that the graphical representations of waves 406 and 408 arepresented merely to illustrate the principles that wave 406 induces orotherwise launches a guided wave 408 on a wire 402 that operates, forexample, as a single wire transmission line. The actual electric andmagnetic fields generated as a result of such wave propagation may varydepending on one or more of the shape and/or design of the dielectricwaveguide, the relative position of the dielectric waveguide to thewire, the frequencies employed, the design of the dielectric waveguide404, the dimensions and composition of the wire 402, as well as itssurface characteristics, its optional insulation, the electromagneticproperties of the surrounding environment, etc.

In an embodiment, an end of dielectric waveguide 404 can taper towardsthe wire 402 in order to increase coupling efficiencies. Indeed, thetapering of the end of the dielectric waveguide 404 can provideimpedance matching to the wire 402, according to an example embodimentof the subject disclosure. For example, an end of the dielectricwaveguide 404 can be gradually tapered in order to obtain a desiredlevel of coupling between waves 406 and 408 as illustrated in FIG. 4.

In an embodiment, the coupling device 410 can be placed such that thereis a short length of the dielectric waveguide 404 between the couplingdevice 410 and an end of the dielectric waveguide 404. Maximum couplingefficiencies are realized when the length of the end of the dielectricwaveguide 404 that is beyond the coupling device 410 is at least severalwavelengths long for whatever frequency is being transmitted.

Turning now to FIG. 5, illustrated is a block diagram of an example,non-limiting embodiment of a dielectric waveguide coupler andtransceiver system 500 (referred to herein collectively as system 500)in accordance with various aspects described herein. System 500comprises a transmitter/receiver device 506 that launches and receiveswaves (e.g., guided wave 504 onto dielectric waveguide 502). The guidedwaves 504 can be used to transport signals received from and sent to abase station 520, mobile devices 522, or a building 524 by way of acommunications interface 501. The communications interface 501 can be anintegral part of system 500. Alternatively, the communications interface501 can be tethered to system 500. The communications interface 501 cancomprise a wireless interface for interfacing to the base station 520,the mobile devices 522, or building 524 utilizing any of variouswireless signaling protocols (e.g., LTE, WiFi, WiMAX, IEEE 802.xx,etc.). The communications interface 501 can also comprise a wiredinterface such as a fiber optic line, coaxial cable, twisted pair, orother suitable wired mediums for transmitting signals to the basestation 520 or building 524. For embodiments where system 500 functionsas a repeater, the communications interface 501 may not be necessary.

The output signals (e.g., Tx) of the communications interface 501 can becombined with a millimeter-wave carrier wave generated by a localoscillator 512 at frequency mixer 510. Frequency mixer 510 can useheterodyning techniques or other frequency shifting techniques tofrequency shift the output signals from communications interface 501.For example, signals sent to and from the communications interface 501can be modulated signals such as orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexed (OFDM) signals formatted in accordance with a Long-TermEvolution (LTE) wireless protocol or other wireless 3G, 4G, 5G or highervoice and data protocol, a ZigBee, WIMAX, UltraWideband or IEEE 802.11wireless protocol or other wireless protocol. In an example embodiment,this frequency conversion can be done in the analog domain, and as aresult, the frequency shifting can be done without regard to the type ofcommunications protocol that the base station 520, mobile devices 522,or in-building devices 524 use. As new communications technologies aredeveloped, the communications interface 501 can be upgraded or replacedand the frequency shifting and transmission apparatus can remain,simplifying upgrades. The carrier wave can then be sent to a poweramplifier (“PA”) 514 and can be transmitted via the transmitter receiverdevice 506 via the diplexer 516.

Signals received from the transmitter/receiver device 506 that aredirected towards the communications interface 501 can be separated fromother signals via diplexer 516. The transmission can then be sent to lownoise amplifier (“LNA”) 518 for amplification. A frequency mixer 521,with help from local oscillator 512 can downshift the transmission(which is in the millimeter-wave band or around 38 GHz in someembodiments) to the native frequency. The communications interface 501can then receive the transmission at an input port (Rx).

In an embodiment, transmitter/receiver device 506 can include acylindrical or non-cylindrical metal (which, for example, can be hollowin an embodiment, but not necessarily drawn to scale) or otherconducting or non-conducting waveguide and an end of the dielectricwaveguide 502 can be placed in or in proximity to the waveguide or thetransmitter/receiver device 506 such that when the transmitter/receiverdevice 506 generates a transmission, the guided wave couples todielectric waveguide 502 and propagates as a guided wave 504 about thewaveguide surface of the dielectric waveguide 502. Similarly, if guidedwave 504 is incoming (coupled to the dielectric waveguide 502 from awire), guided wave 504 then enters the transmitter/receiver device 506and couples to the cylindrical waveguide or conducting waveguide. Whiletransmitter/receiver device 506 is shown to include a separatewaveguide—an antenna, cavity resonator, klystron, magnetron, travellingwave tube, or other radiating element can be employed to induce a guidedwave on the waveguide 502, without the separate waveguide.

In an embodiment, dielectric waveguide 502 can be wholly constructed ofa dielectric material (or another suitable insulating material), withoutany metallic or otherwise conducting materials therein. Dielectricwaveguide 502 can be composed of nylon, Teflon, polyethylene, apolyamide, other plastics, or other materials that are non-conductingand suitable for facilitating transmission of electromagnetic waves onan outer surface of such materials. In another embodiment, dielectricwaveguide 502 can include a core that is conducting/metallic, and havean exterior dielectric surface. Similarly, a transmission medium thatcouples to the dielectric waveguide 502 for propagating electromagneticwaves induced by the dielectric waveguide 502 or for supplyingelectromagnetic waves to the dielectric waveguide 502 can be whollyconstructed of a dielectric material (or another suitable insulatingmaterial), without any metallic or otherwise conducting materialstherein.

It is noted that although FIG. 5 shows that the opening of transmitterreceiver device 506 is much wider than the dielectric waveguide 502,this is not to scale, and that in other embodiments the width of thedielectric waveguide 502 is comparable or slightly smaller than theopening of the hollow waveguide. It is also not shown, but in anembodiment, an end of the waveguide 502 that is inserted into thetransmitter/receiver device 506 tapers down in order to reducereflection and increase coupling efficiencies.

The transmitter/receiver device 506 can be communicably coupled to acommunications interface 501, and alternatively, transmitter/receiverdevice 506 can also be communicably coupled to the one or moredistributed antennas 112 and 114 shown in FIG. 1. In other embodiments,transmitter receiver device 506 can comprise part of a repeater systemfor a backhaul network.

Before coupling to the dielectric waveguide 502, the one or morewaveguide modes of the guided wave generated by the transmitter/receiverdevice 506 can couple to one or more wave propagation modes of theguided wave 504. The wave propagation modes can be different than thehollow metal waveguide modes due to the different characteristics of thehollow metal waveguide and the dielectric waveguide. For instance, wavepropagation modes can comprise the fundamental transverseelectromagnetic mode (Quasi-TEM₀₀), where only small electrical and/ormagnetic fields extend in the direction of propagation, and the electricand magnetic fields extend radially outwards from the dielectricwaveguide 502 while the guided waves propagate along the dielectricwaveguide 502. The fundamental transverse electromagnetic mode wavepropagation mode does not exist inside a waveguide that is hollow.Therefore, the hollow metal waveguide modes that are used bytransmitter/receiver device 506 are waveguide modes that can coupleeffectively and efficiently to wave propagation modes of dielectricwaveguide 502.

Turning now to FIG. 6, illustrated is a block diagram illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a dual dielectric waveguide couplingsystem 600 in accordance with various aspects described herein. In anembodiment, two or more dielectric waveguides (e.g., 604 and 606) can bepositioned around a wire 602 in order to receive guided wave 608. In anembodiment, the guided wave 608 can be characterized as a surface waveor other electromagnetic wave. In an embodiment, one dielectricwaveguide is enough to receive the guided wave 608. In that case, guidedwave 608 couples to dielectric waveguide 604 and propagates as guidedwave 610. If the field structure of the guided wave 608 oscillates orundulates around the wire 602 due to various outside factors, thendielectric waveguide 606 can be placed such that guided wave 608 couplesto dielectric waveguide 606. In some embodiments, four or moredielectric waveguides can be placed around a portion of the wire 602,e.g., at 90 degrees or another spacing with respect to each other, inorder to receive guided waves that may oscillate or rotate around thewire 602, that have been induced at different axial orientations or thathave non-fundamental or higher order modes that, for example, have lobesand/or nulls or other asymmetries that are orientation dependent.However, it will be appreciated that there may be less than or more thanfour dielectric waveguides placed around a portion of the wire 602without departing from example embodiments. It will also be appreciatedthat while some example embodiments have presented a plurality ofdielectric waveguides around at least a portion of a wire 602, thisplurality of dielectric waveguides can also be considered as part of asingle dielectric waveguide system having multiple dielectric waveguidesubcomponents. For example, two or more dielectric waveguides can bemanufactured as single system that can be installed around a wire in asingle installation such that the dielectric waveguides are eitherpre-positioned or adjustable relative to each other (either manually orautomatically) in accordance with the single system. Receivers coupledto dielectric waveguides 606 and 604 can use diversity combining tocombine signals received from both dielectric waveguides 606 and 604 inorder to maximize the signal quality. In other embodiments, if one orthe other of a dielectric waveguides 604 and 606 receive a transmissionthat is above a predetermined threshold, receivers can use selectiondiversity when deciding which signal to use.

It is noted that the graphical representations of waves 608 and 610 arepresented merely to illustrate the principles that guided wave 608induces or otherwise launches a wave 610 on a dielectric waveguide 604.The actual electric and magnetic fields generated as a result of suchwave propagation may vary depending on the frequencies employed, thedesign of the dielectric waveguide 604, the dimensions and compositionof the wire 602, as well as its surface characteristics, its optionalinsulation, the electromagnetic properties of the surroundingenvironment, etc.

Turning now to FIG. 7, illustrated is a block diagram of an example,non-limiting embodiment of a bidirectional dielectric waveguide couplingsystem 700 in accordance with various aspects described herein. Insystem 700, two dielectric waveguides 704 and 714 can be placed near awire 702 such that guided waves (e.g., surface waves or otherelectromagnetic waves) propagating along the wire 702 are coupled todielectric waveguide 704 as wave 706, and then are boosted or repeatedby repeater device 710 and launched as a guided wave 716 onto dielectricwaveguide 714. The guided wave 716 can then couple to wire 702 andcontinue to propagate along the wire 702. In an embodiment, the repeaterdevice 710 can receive at least a portion of the power utilized forboosting or repeating through magnetic coupling with the wire 702, whichcan be a power line.

In some embodiments, repeater device 710 can repeat the transmissionassociated with wave 706, and in other embodiments, repeater device 710can be associated with a distributed antenna system and/or base stationdevice located near the repeater device 710. Receiver waveguide 708 canreceive the wave 706 from the dielectric waveguide 704 and transmitterwaveguide 712 can launch guided wave 716 onto dielectric waveguide 714.Between receiver waveguide 708 and transmitter waveguide 712, the signalcan be amplified to correct for signal loss and other inefficienciesassociated with guided wave communications or the signal can be receivedand processed to extract the data contained therein and regenerated fortransmission. In an embodiment, a signal can be extracted from thetransmission and processed and otherwise emitted to mobile devicesnearby via distributed antennas communicably coupled to the repeaterdevice 710. Similarly, signals and/or communications received by thedistributed antennas can be inserted into the transmission that isgenerated and launched onto dielectric waveguide 714 by transmitterwaveguide 712. Accordingly, the repeater system 700 depicted in FIG. 7can be comparable in function to the dielectric waveguide couplingdevice 108 and 110 in FIG. 1.

It is noted that although FIG. 7 shows guided wave transmissions 706 and716 entering from the left and exiting to the right respectively, thisis merely a simplification and is not intended to be limiting. In otherembodiments, receiver waveguide 708 and transmitter waveguide 712 canalso function as transmitters and receivers respectively, allowing therepeater device 710 to be bi-directional.

In an embodiment, repeater device 710 can be placed at locations wherethere are discontinuities or obstacles on the wire 702. These obstaclescan include transformers, connections, utility poles, and other suchpower line devices. The repeater device 710 can help the guided (e.g.,surface) waves jump over these obstacles on the line and boost thetransmission power at the same time. In other embodiments, a dielectricwaveguide can be used to jump over the obstacle without the use of arepeater device. In that embodiment, both ends of the dielectricwaveguide can be tied or fastened to the wire, thus providing a path forthe guided wave to travel without being blocked by the obstacle.

Turning now to FIG. 8, illustrated is a block diagram of an example,non-limiting embodiment of a bidirectional dielectric waveguide coupler800 in accordance with various aspects described herein. Thebidirectional dielectric waveguide coupler 800 can employ diversitypaths in the case of when two or more wires are strung between utilitypoles. Since guided wave transmissions have different transmissionefficiencies and coupling efficiencies for insulated wires andun-insulated wires based on weather, precipitation and atmosphericconditions, it can be advantageous to selectively transmit on either aninsulated wire or un-insulated wire at certain times.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, repeater device uses a receiverwaveguide 808 to receive a guided wave traveling along uninsulated wire802 and repeats the transmission using transmitter waveguide 810 as aguided wave along insulated wire 804. In other embodiments, repeaterdevice can switch from the insulated wire 804 to the un-insulated wire802, or can repeat the transmissions along the same paths. Repeaterdevice 806 can include sensors, or be in communication with sensors thatindicate conditions that can affect the transmission. Based on thefeedback received from the sensors, the repeater device 806 can make thedetermination about whether to keep the transmission along the samewire, or transfer the transmission to the other wire.

Turning now to FIG. 9, illustrated is a block diagram illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a bidirectional repeater system 900.Bidirectional repeater system 900 includes waveguide coupling devices902 and 904 that receive and transmit transmissions from other couplingdevices located in a distributed antenna system or backhaul system.

In various embodiments, waveguide coupling device 902 can receive atransmission from another waveguide coupling device, wherein thetransmission has a plurality of subcarriers. Diplexer 906 can separatethe transmission from other transmissions, and direct the transmissionto low-noise amplifier (“LNA”) 908. A frequency mixer 928, with helpfrom a local oscillator 912, can downshift the transmission (which is inthe millimeter-wave band or around 38 GHz in some embodiments) to alower frequency, whether it is a cellular band (˜1.9 GHz) for adistributed antenna system, a native frequency, or other frequency for abackhaul system. An extractor 932 can extract the signal on thesubcarrier that corresponds to antenna or other output component 922 anddirect the signal to the output component 922. For the signals that arenot being extracted at this antenna location, extractor 932 can redirectthem to another frequency mixer 936, where the signals are used tomodulate a carrier wave generated by local oscillator 914. The carrierwave, with its subcarriers, is directed to a power amplifier (“PA”) 916and is retransmitted by waveguide coupling device 904 to anotherrepeater system, via diplexer 920.

At the output device 922 (antenna in a distributed antenna system), a PA924 can boost the signal for transmission to the mobile device. An LNA926 can be used to amplify weak signals that are received from themobile device and then send the signal to a multiplexer 934 which mergesthe signal with signals that have been received from waveguide couplingdevice 904. The signals received from coupling device 904 have beensplit by diplexer 920, and then passed through LNA 918, and downshiftedin frequency by frequency mixer 938. When the signals are combined bymultiplexer 934, they are upshifted in frequency by frequency mixer 930,and then boosted by PA 910, and transmitted back to the launcher or onto another repeater by waveguide coupling device 902. In an embodimentbidirectional repeater system 900 can be just a repeater without theantenna/output device 922. It will be appreciated that in someembodiments, a bidirectional repeater system 900 could also beimplemented using two distinct and separate uni-directional repeaters.In an alternative embodiment, a bidirectional repeater system 900 couldalso be a booster or otherwise perform retransmissions withoutdownshifting and upshifting. Indeed in example embodiment, theretransmissions can be based upon receiving a signal or guided wave andperforming some signal or guided wave processing or reshaping,filtering, and/or amplification, prior to retransmission of the signalor guided wave.

Turning now to FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10C, illustrated are block diagramsof example, non-limiting embodiments of a slotted waveguide couplersystem 1000 in accordance with various aspects described herein. In FIG.10A, the waveguide coupler system comprises a wire 1006 that ispositioned with respect to a waveguide 1002, such that the wire 1006fits within or near a slot formed in the waveguide 1002 that runslongitudinally with respect to the wire 1004. The opposing ends 1004 aand 1004 b of the waveguide 1002, and the waveguide 1002 itself,surrounds less than 180 degrees of the wire surface of the wire 1006.

In FIG. 10B the waveguide coupler system comprises a wire 1014 that ispositioned with respect to a waveguide 1008, such that the wire 1014fits within or near a slot formed in the waveguide 1008 that runslongitudinally with respect to the wire 1004. The slot surfaces of thewaveguide 1008 can be non-parallel, and two different exemplaryembodiments are shown in FIG. 10B. In the first, slot surfaces 1010 aand 1010 b can be non-parallel and aim outwards, slightly wider than thewidth of the wire 1014. In the other embodiment, the slots surfaces 1012a and 1012 b can still be non-parallel, but narrow to form a slotopening smaller than a width of the wire 1014. Any range of angles ofthe non-parallel slot surfaces are possible, of which these are twoexemplary embodiments.

In FIG. 10C, the waveguide coupler system shows a wire 1020 that fitswithin a slot formed in waveguide 1016. The slot surfaces 1018 a and1018 b in this exemplary embodiment can be parallel, but the axis 1026of the wire 1020 is not aligned with the axis 1024 of the waveguide1016. The waveguide 1016 and the wire 1020 are therefore not coaxiallyaligned. In another embodiment, shown, a possible position of the wireat 1022 also has an axis 1028 that is not aligned with the axis 1024 ofthe waveguide 1016.

It is to be appreciated that while three different embodiments showinga) waveguide surfaces that surround less than 180 degrees of the wire,b) non parallel slot surfaces, and c) coaxially unaligned wires andwaveguide were shown separately in FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10C, in variousembodiments, diverse combinations of the listed features are possible.

Turning now to FIG. 11, illustrated is an example, non-limitingembodiment of a waveguide coupling system 1100 in accordance withvarious aspects described herein. FIG. 11 depicts a cross sectionalrepresentation of the waveguide and wire embodiments shown in FIGS. 2,3, 4, and etc. As can be seen in 1100, the wire 1104 can be positioneddirectly next to and touching waveguide 1102. In other embodiments, asshown in waveguide coupling system 1200 in FIG. 12, the wire 1204 canstill be placed near, but not actually touching waveguide strip 1202. Inboth cases, electromagnetic waves traveling along the waveguides caninduce other electromagnetic waves on to the wires and vice versa. Also,in both embodiments, the wires 1104 and 1204 are placed outside thecross-sectional area defined by the outer surfaces of waveguides 1102and 1202.

For the purposes of this disclosure, a waveguide does not surround, insubstantial part, a wire surface of a wire when the waveguide does notsurround an axial region of the surface, when viewed in cross-section,of more than 180 degrees. For avoidance of doubt, a waveguide does notsurround, in substantial part a surface of a wire when the waveguidesurrounds an axial region of the surface, when viewed in cross-section,of 180 degrees or less.

It is to be appreciated that while FIGS. 11 and 12 show wires 1104 and1204 having a circular shape and waveguides 1102 and 1202 havingrectangular shapes, this is not meant to be limiting. In otherembodiments, wires and waveguides can have a variety of shapes, sizes,and configurations. The shapes can include, but not be limited to: ovalsor other ellipsoid shapes, octagons, quadrilaterals or other polygonswith either sharp or rounded edges, or other shapes. Additionally, insome embodiments, the wires 1104 and 1204 can be stranded wirescomprising smaller gauge wires, such as a helical strand, braid or othercoupling of individual strands into a single wire. Any of wires andwaveguides shown in the figures and described throughout this disclosurecan include one or more of these embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates a process in connection with the aforementionedsystems. The process in FIG. 13 can be implemented for example bysystems 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, and 900 illustrated inFIGS. 1-9 respectively. While for purposes of simplicity of explanation,the process is shown and described as a series of blocks, it is to beunderstood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter is notlimited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described hereinafter.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method for transmitting a transmission with a dielectricwaveguide coupler as described herein. Method 1300 can begin at 1302where a first electromagnetic wave is emitted by a transmission deviceas a guided wave that propagates at least in part on a waveguide surfaceof a waveguide, wherein the waveguide surface of the waveguide does notsurround in whole or in substantial part a wire surface of a wire. Thetransmission that is generated by a transmitter can be based on a signalreceived from a base station device, access point, network, a mobiledevice, or other signal source.

At 1304, based upon configuring or positioning the waveguide inproximity of the wire, the guided wave then couples at least a part ofthe first electromagnetic wave to a wire surface, forming a secondelectromagnetic wave (e.g., a surface wave) that propagates at leastpartially around the wire surface, wherein the wire is in proximity tothe waveguide. This can be done in response to positioning a portion ofthe dielectric waveguide (e.g., a tangent of a curve of the dielectricwaveguide) near and parallel to the wire, wherein a wavelength of theelectromagnetic wave is smaller than a circumference of the wire and thedielectric waveguide. The guided wave, or surface wave, stays parallelto the wire even as the wire bends and flexes. Bends can increasetransmission losses, which are also dependent on wire diameters,frequency, and materials. The coupling interface between the wire andthe waveguide can also be configured to achieve the desired level ofcoupling, as described herein, which can include tapering an end of thewaveguide to improve impedance matching between the waveguide and thewire.

The transmission that is emitted by the transmitter can exhibit one ormore waveguide modes. The waveguide modes can be dependent on the shapeand/or design of the waveguide. The propagation modes on the wire can bedifferent than the waveguide modes due to the different characteristicsof the waveguide and the wire. When the circumference of the wire iscomparable in size to, or greater, than a wavelength of thetransmission, the guided wave exhibits multiple wave propagation modes.The guided wave can therefore comprise more than one type of electricand magnetic field configuration. As the guided wave (e.g., surfacewave) propagates down the wire, the electrical and magnetic fieldconfigurations may remain substantially the same from end to end of thewire or vary as the transmission traverses the wave by rotation,dispersion, attenuation or other effects.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a waveguide system 1402 in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein. The waveguide system 1402 can comprise sensors 1404, apower management 1405, a waveguide 1406, and a communications interface1408.

The waveguide system 1402 can be coupled to a power line 1410 forfacilitating data communications in accordance with embodimentsdescribed in the subject disclosure. In an example embodiment, thewaveguide 1406 can comprise all or part of the system 500, such as shownin FIG. 5, for inducing electromagnetic waves on a surface of the powerline 1410 that longitudinally propagate along the surface of the powerline 1410 as described in the subject disclosure. Non-limitingtechniques for coupling the waveguide 1406 to the power line 1410 areshown in FIGS. 2-4 and 6. The waveguide 1406 can also serve as arepeater for retransmitting electromagnetic waves on the same power line1410 or for routing electromagnetic waves between power lines 1410 asshown in FIGS. 7-8.

The communications interface 1408 can comprise the communicationsinterface 501 shown in FIG. 5, in an example embodiment. Thecommunications interface 1408 couples to the waveguide 1406 forup-converting signals operating at an original frequency toelectromagnetic waves operating at a carrier frequency that propagate ona surface of a coupling device of the waveguide 1406, such as thedielectric 502 of FIG. 5, and that induce corresponding electromagneticwaves that propagate on a surface of the power line 1410. The power line1410 can be a wire (e.g., single stranded or multi-stranded) having aconducting surface or insulated surface. The communications interface1408 can also receive signals from the waveguide 1406 that have beendown-converted from electromagnetic waves operating at a carrierfrequency to signals at their original frequency.

Signals received by the communications interface 1408 for up-conversioncan include without limitation signals supplied by a base station 1414over a wired or wireless interface of the communications interface 1408,wireless signals transmitted by mobile devices 1420 to the base station1414 for delivery over the wired or wireless interface of thecommunications interface 1408, signals supplied by in-buildingcommunication devices 1418 over the wired or wireless interface of thecommunications interface 1408, and/or wireless signals supplied to thecommunications interface 1408 by mobile devices 1412 roaming in awireless communication range of the communications interface 1408. Inembodiments where the waveguide system 1402 functions as a repeater,such as shown in FIGS. 7-8, the communications interface 1408 may not beincluded in the waveguide system 1402.

The electromagnetic waves propagating along the surface of the power1410 can be modulated and formatted to include packets or frames of datathat include a data payload and further include networking information(such as header information for identifying one or more destinationwaveguide systems 1402). The networking information may be provided bythe waveguide system 1402 or an originating device such as the basestation 1414, mobile devices 1420, or in-building devices 1418, or acombination thereof. Additionally, the modulated electromagnetic wavescan include error correction data for mitigating signal disturbances.The networking information and error correction data can be used by adestination waveguide system 1402 for detecting transmissions directedto it, and for down-converting and processing with error correction datatransmissions that include voice and/or data signals directed torecipient communication devices communicatively coupled to thedestination waveguide system 1402.

Referring now to the sensors 1404 of the waveguide system 1402, thesensors 1404 can comprise one or more of a temperature sensor 1404 a, adisturbance detection sensor 1404 b, a loss of energy sensor 1404 c, anoise sensor 1404 d, a vibration sensor 1404 e, an environmental (e.g.,weather) sensor 1404 f, and/or an image sensor 1404 g. The sensors 1404can detect any one of a variety of conditions that may be adverse toelectromagnetic waves that propagate along a wire surface of a wire. Forexample, the temperature sensor 1404 a can be used to measure ambienttemperature, a temperature of the waveguide 1406, a temperature of thepower line 1410, temperature differentials (e.g., compared to a setpointor baseline, between 1046 and 1410, etc.), or any combination thereof.In one embodiment, temperature metrics can be collected and reportedperiodically to a network management system 1601 by way of the basestation 1414.

The disturbance detection sensor 1404 b can perform measurements on thepower line 1410 to detect disturbances such as signal reflections, whichmay indicate a presence of a downstream disturbance that may impede thepropagation of electromagnetic waves on the power line 1410. A signalreflection can represent a distortion resulting from, for example, anelectromagnetic wave transmitted on the power line 1410 by the waveguide1406 that reflects in whole or in part back to the waveguide 1406 from adisturbance in the power line 1410 located downstream from the waveguide1406.

Signal reflections can be caused by obstructions on the power line 1410.For example, a tree limb shown in FIG. 15(A) may cause electromagneticwave reflections when the tree limb is lying on the power line 1410, oris in close proximity to the power line 1410 which may cause a coronadischarge 1502. Other illustrations of obstructions that can causeelectromagnetic wave reflections can include without limitation anobject 1506 that has been entangled on the power line 1410 as shown inFIG. 15(C) (e.g., clothing, a shoe wrapped around a power line 1410 witha shoe string, etc.), a corroded build-up 1512 on the power line 1410 asshown in FIG. 15(F), or an ice build-up 1514 as shown in FIG. 15(G).Power grid components may also interfere with the transmission ofelectromagnetic waves on the surface of power lines 1410. Illustrationsof power grid components that may cause signal reflections includewithout limitation a transformer 1504 illustrated in FIG. 15(B) and ajoint 1510 for connecting spliced power lines such as illustrated inFIG. 15(E). A sharp angle 1508 on a power line 1410, as shown in FIG.15(D), may also cause electromagnetic wave reflections.

The disturbance detection sensor 1404 b can comprise a circuit tocompare magnitudes of electromagnetic wave reflections to magnitudes oforiginal electromagnetic waves transmitted by the waveguide 1406 todetermine how much a downstream disturbance in the power line 1410attenuates transmissions. The disturbance detection sensor 1404 b canfurther comprise a spectral analyzer circuit for performing spectralanalysis on the reflected waves. The spectral data generated by thespectral analyzer circuit can be compared with spectral profiles viapattern recognition, an expert system, curve fitting, matched filteringor other artificial intelligence, classification or comparison techniqueto identify a type of disturbance based on, for example, the spectralprofile that most closely matches the spectral data. The spectralprofiles can be stored in a memory of the disturbance detection sensor1404 b or may be remotely accessible by the disturbance detection sensor1404 b. The profiles can comprise spectral data that models differentdisturbances that may be encountered on power lines 1410 to enable thedisturbance detection sensor 1404 b to identify disturbances locally. Anidentification of the disturbance if known can be reported to thenetwork management system 1601 by way of the base station 1414. Thedisturbance detection sensor 1404 b can also utilize the waveguide 1406to transmit electromagnetic waves as test signals to determine aroundtrip time for an electromagnetic wave reflection. The round triptime measured by the disturbance detection sensor 1404 b can be used tocalculate a distance traveled by the electromagnetic wave up to a pointwhere the reflection takes place, which enables the disturbancedetection sensor 1404 b to calculate a distance from the waveguide 1406to the downstream disturbance on the power line 1410.

The distance calculated can be reported to the network management system1601 by way of the base station 1414. In one embodiment, the location ofthe waveguide system 1402 on the power line 1410 may be known to thenetwork management system 1601, which the network management system 1601can use to determine a location of the disturbance on the power line1410 based on a known topology of the power grid. In another embodiment,the waveguide system 1402 can provide its location to the networkmanagement system 1601 to assist in the determination of the location ofthe disturbance on the power line 1410. The location of the waveguidesystem 1402 can be obtained by the waveguide system 1402 from apre-programmed location of the waveguide system 1402 stored in a memoryof the waveguide system 1402, or the waveguide system 1402 can determineits location using a GPS receiver (not shown) included in the waveguidesystem 1402.

The power management system 1405 provides energy to the aforementionedcomponents of the waveguide system 1402. The power management system1405 can receive energy from solar cells, or from a transformer (notshown) coupled to the power line 1410, or by inductive coupling to thepower line 1410 or another nearby power line. The power managementsystem 1405 can also include a backup battery and/or a super capacitoror other capacitor circuit for providing the waveguide system 1402 withtemporary power. The loss of energy sensor 1404 c can be used to detectwhen the waveguide system 1402 has a loss of power condition and/or theoccurrence of some other malfunction. For example, the loss of energysensor 1404 c can detect when there is a loss of power due to defectivesolar cells, an obstruction on the solar cells that causes them tomalfunction, loss of power on the power line 1410, and/or when thebackup power system malfunctions due to expiration of a backup battery,or a detectable defect in a super capacitor. When a malfunction and/orloss of power occurs, the loss of energy sensor 1404 c can notify thenetwork management system 1601 by way of the base station 1414.

The noise sensor 1404 d can be used to measure noise on the power line1410 that may adversely affect transmission of electromagnetic waves onthe power line 1410. The noise sensor 1404 d can sense unexpectedelectromagnetic interference, noise bursts, or other sources ofdisturbances that may interrupt transmission of modulatedelectromagnetic waves on a surface of a power line 1410. A noise burstcan be caused by, for example, a corona discharge, or other source ofnoise. The noise sensor 1404 d can compare the measured noise to a noiseprofile obtained by the waveguide system 1402 from an internal databaseof noise profiles or from a remotely located database that stores noiseprofiles via pattern recognition, an expert system, curve fitting,matched filtering or other artificial intelligence, classification orcomparison technique. From the comparison, the noise sensor 1404 d mayidentify a noise source (e.g., corona discharge or otherwise) based on,for example, the noise profile that provides the closest match to themeasured noise. The noise sensor 1404 d can also detect how noiseaffects transmissions by measuring transmission metrics such as biterror rate, packet loss rate, jitter, packet retransmission requests,etc. The noise sensor 1404 d can report to the network management system1601 by way of the base station 1414 the identity of noise sources,their time of occurrence, and transmission metrics, among other things.

The vibration sensor 1404 e can include accelerometers and/or gyroscopesto detect 2D or 3D vibrations on the power line 1410. The vibrations canbe compared to vibration profiles that can be stored locally in thewaveguide system 1402, or obtained by the waveguide system 1402 from aremote database via pattern recognition, an expert system, curvefitting, matched filtering or other artificial intelligence,classification or comparison technique. Vibration profiles can be used,for example, to distinguish fallen trees from wind gusts based on, forexample, the vibration profile that provides the closest match to themeasured vibrations. The results of this analysis can be reported by thevibration sensor 1404 e to the network management system 1601 by way ofthe base station 1414.

The environmental sensor 1404 f can include a barometer for measuringatmospheric pressure, ambient temperature (which can be provided by thetemperature sensor 1404 a), wind speed, humidity, wind direction, andrainfall, among other things. The environmental sensor 1404 f cancollect raw information and process this information by comparing it toenvironmental profiles that can be obtained from a memory of thewaveguide system 1402 or a remote database to predict weather conditionsbefore they arise via pattern recognition, an expert system,knowledge-based system or other artificial intelligence, classificationor other weather modeling and prediction technique. The environmentalsensor 1404 f can report raw data as well as its analysis to the networkmanagement system 1601.

The image sensor 1404 g can be a digital camera (e.g., a charged coupleddevice or CCD imager, infrared camera, etc.) for capturing images in avicinity of the waveguide system 1402. The image sensor 1404 g caninclude an electromechanical mechanism to control movement (e.g., actualposition or focal points/zooms) of the camera for inspecting the powerline 1410 from multiple perspectives (e.g., top surface, bottom surface,left surface, right surface and so on). Alternatively, the image sensor1404 g can be designed such that no electromechanical mechanism isneeded in order to obtain the multiple perspectives. The collection andretrieval of imaging data generated by the image sensor 1404 g can becontrolled by the network management system 1601, or can be autonomouslycollected and reported by the image sensor 1404 g to the networkmanagement system 1601.

Other sensors that may be suitable for collecting telemetry informationassociated with the waveguide system 1402 and/or the power lines 1410for purposes of detecting, predicting and/or mitigating disturbancesthat can impede electromagnetic wave transmissions on power lines 1410(or any other form of a transmission medium of electromagnetic waves)may be utilized by the waveguide system 1402.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a system 1600 for managing a power grid 1603 and acommunication system 1605 embedded therein in accordance with variousaspects described herein. The communication system 1605 comprises aplurality of waveguide systems 1402 coupled to power lines 1410 of thepower grid 1603. At least a portion of the waveguide systems 1402 usedin the communication system 1605 can be in direct communication with abase station 1414 and/or the network management system 1601. Waveguidesystems 1402 not directly connected to a base station 1414 or thenetwork management system 1601 can engage in communication sessions witheither a base station 1414 or the network management system 1601 by wayof other downstream waveguide systems 1402 connected to a base station1414 or the network management system 1601.

The network management system 1601 can be communicatively coupled toequipment of a utility company 1602 and equipment of a communicationsservice provider 1604 for providing each entity, status informationassociated with the power grid 1603 and the communication system 1605,respectively. The network management system 1601, the equipment of theutility company 1602, and the communications service provider 1604 canaccess communication devices utilized by utility company personnel 1606and/or communication devices utilized by communications service providerpersonnel 1608 for purposes of providing status information and/or fordirecting such personnel in the management of the power grid 1603 and/orcommunication system 1605.

FIG. 17A illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1700 for detecting and mitigating disturbancesoccurring in a communication network of the system 1600 of FIG. 16.Method 1700 can begin with step 1702 where a waveguide system 1402transmits and receives messages embedded in, or forming part of,modulated electromagnetic waves or another type of electromagnetic wavestraveling along a surface of a power line 1410. The messages can bevoice messages, streaming video, and/or other data/information exchangedbetween communication devices communicatively coupled to thecommunication system 1605. At step 1704 the sensors 1404 of thewaveguide system 1402 can collect sensing data. In an embodiment, thesensing data can be collected in step 1704 prior to, during, or afterthe transmission and/or receipt of messages in step 1702. At step 1706the waveguide system 1402 (or the sensors 1404 themselves) can determinefrom the sensing data an actual or predicted occurrence of a disturbancein the communication system 1605 that can affect communicationsoriginating from (e.g., transmitted by) or received by the waveguidesystem 1402. The waveguide system 1402 (or the sensors 1404) can processtemperature data, signal reflection data, loss of energy data, noisedata, vibration data, environmental data, or any combination thereof tomake this determination. The waveguide system 1402 (or the sensors 1404)may also detect, identify, estimate, or predict the source of thedisturbance and/or its location in the communication system 1605. If adisturbance is neither detected/identified nor predicted/estimated atstep 1708, the waveguide system 1402 can proceed to step 1702 where itcontinues to transmit and receive messages embedded in, or forming partof, modulated electromagnetic waves traveling along a surface of thepower line 1410.

If at step 1708 a disturbance is detected/identified orpredicted/estimated to occur, the waveguide system 1402 proceeds to step1710 to determine if the disturbance adversely affects (oralternatively, is likely to adversely affect or the extent to which itmay adversely affect) transmission or reception of messages in thecommunication system 1605. In one embodiment, a duration threshold and afrequency of occurrence threshold can be used at step 1710 to determinewhen a disturbance adversely affects communications in the communicationsystem 1605. For illustration purposes only, assume a duration thresholdis set to 500 ms, while a frequency of occurrence threshold is set to 5disturbances occurring in an observation period of 10 sec. Thus, adisturbance having a duration greater than 500 ms will trigger theduration threshold. Additionally, any disturbance occurring more than 5times in a 10 sec time interval will trigger the frequency of occurrencethreshold.

In one embodiment, a disturbance may be considered to adversely affectsignal integrity in the communication system 1605 when the durationthreshold alone is exceeded. In another embodiment, a disturbance may beconsidered as adversely affecting signal integrity in the communicationsystems 1605 when both the duration threshold and the frequency ofoccurrence threshold are exceeded. The latter embodiment is thus moreconservative than the former embodiment for classifying disturbancesthat adversely affect signal integrity in the communication system 1605.It will be appreciated that many other algorithms and associatedparameters and thresholds can be utilized for step 1710 in accordancewith example embodiments. It will be further appreciated that anyactivity, event, or condition detectable by sensors, other suitabledetection equipment, or other means for detection that can adverselyaffect signal integrity of electromagnetic wave transmissions in thecommunication system 1605 can be applied to, used by, or combined withany of the embodiments described in the subject disclosure singly or inany combination to detect and reduce or substantially eliminate suchadverse effects on the signal integrity of electromagnetic wavetransmissions in the communication system 1605 to thereby achieve a goalof maintaining a desirable quality level of communication services inthe communication system 1605.

Referring back to method 1700, if at step 1710 the disturbance detectedat step 1708 does not meet the condition for adversely affectedcommunications (e.g., neither exceeds the duration threshold nor thefrequency of occurrence threshold), the waveguide system 1402 mayproceed to step 1702 and continue processing messages. For instance, ifthe disturbance detected in step 1708 has a duration of 1 ms with asingle occurrence in a 10 sec time period, then neither threshold willbe exceeded. Consequently, such a disturbance may be considered ashaving a nominal effect on signal integrity in the communication system1605 and thus would not be flagged as a disturbance requiringmitigation. Although not flagged, the occurrence of the disturbance, itstime of occurrence, its frequency of occurrence, spectral data, and/orother useful information, may be reported to the network managementsystem 1601 as telemetry data for monitoring purposes.

Referring back to step 1710, if on the other hand the disturbancesatisfies the condition for adversely affected communications (e.g.,exceeds either or both thresholds), the waveguide system 1402 canproceed to step 1712 and report the incident to the network managementsystem 1601. The report can include raw sensing data collected by thesensors 1404, a description of the disturbance if known by the waveguidesystem 1402, a time of occurrence of the disturbance, a frequency ofoccurrence of the disturbance, a location associated with thedisturbance, parameters readings such as bit error rate, packet lossrate, retransmission requests, jitter, latency and so on. If thedisturbance is based on a prediction by one or more sensors of thewaveguide system 1402, the report can include a type of disturbanceexpected, and if predictable, an expected time occurrence of thedisturbance, and an expected frequency of occurrence of the predicteddisturbance when the prediction is based on historical sensing datacollected by the sensors 1404 of the waveguide system 1402.

At step 1714, the network management system 1601 can determine amitigation, circumvention, or correction technique, which may includedirecting the waveguide system 1402 to reroute traffic to circumvent thedisturbance if the location of the disturbance can be determined. In oneembodiment, the waveguide system 1402 detecting the disturbance maydirect a repeater 1802 such as the one shown in FIG. 18A to connect thewaveguide system 1402 from a primary power line 1804 affected by thedisturbance to a secondary power line 1806 to enable the waveguidesystem 1402 to reroute traffic to a different transmission medium andavoid the disturbance 1801. In an embodiment where the waveguide system1402 is configured as a repeater, such as repeater 1802, the waveguidesystem 1402 can itself perform the rerouting of traffic from the primarypower line 1804 to the secondary power line 1806. It is further notedthat for bidirectional communications (e.g., full or half-duplexcommunications), the repeater 1802 can be configured to reroute trafficfrom the secondary power line 1806 back to the primary power line 1804for processing by the waveguide system 1402.

In another embodiment, the waveguide system 1402 can redirect traffic byinstructing a first repeater 1812 situated upstream of the disturbanceand a second repeater 1814 situated downstream of the disturbance toredirect traffic from a primary power line 1804 temporarily to asecondary power line 1806 and back to the primary power line 1804 in amanner that avoids the disturbance 1801 as shown in FIG. 18B. It isfurther noted that for bidirectional communications (e.g., full orhalf-duplex communications), the repeaters 1812 and 1814 can beconfigured to reroute traffic from the secondary power line 1806 back tothe primary power line 1804.

To avoid interrupting existing communication sessions occurring on asecondary power line 1806, the network management system 1601 may directthe waveguide system 1402 (in the embodiments of FIGS. 18A-18B) toinstruct repeater(s) to utilize unused time slot(s) and/or frequencyband(s) of the secondary power line 1806 for redirecting data and/orvoice traffic away from the primary power line 1804 to circumvent thedisturbance 1801.

At step 1716, while traffic is being rerouted to avoid the disturbance,the network management system 1601 can notify equipment of the utilitycompany 1602 and/or equipment of the communications service provider1604, which in turn may notify personnel of the utility company 1606and/or personnel of the communications service provider 1608 of thedetected disturbance and its location if known. Field personnel fromeither party can attend to resolving the disturbance at a determinedlocation of the disturbance. Once the disturbance is removed orotherwise mitigated by personnel of the utility company and/or personnelof the communications service provider, such personnel can notify theirrespective companies and/or the network management system 1601 utilizingfield equipment (e.g., a laptop computer, smartphone, etc.)communicatively coupled to network management system 1601, and/orequipment of the utility company and/or the communications serviceprovider. The notification can include a description of how thedisturbance was mitigated and any changes to the power lines 1410 thatmay change a topology of the communication system 1605.

Once the disturbance has been resolved, the network management system1601 can direct the waveguide system 1402 at step 1720 to restore theprevious routing configuration used by the waveguide system 1402 orroute traffic according to a new routing configuration if therestoration strategy used to mitigate the disturbance resulted in a newnetwork topology of the communication system 1605. In anotherembodiment, the waveguide system 1402 can be configured to monitormitigation of the disturbance by transmitting test signals on the powerline 1410 to determine when the disturbance has been removed. Once thewaveguide 1402 detects an absence of the disturbance it can autonomouslyrestore its routing configuration without assistance by the networkmanagement system 1601 if it determines the network topology of thecommunication system 1605 has not changed, or it can utilize a newrouting configuration that adapts to a detected new network topology.

Referring now to FIG. 19, there is illustrated a block diagram of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein. In order to provide additional context for various embodimentsof the embodiments described herein, FIG. 19 and the followingdiscussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of asuitable computing environment 1900 in which the various embodiments ofthe subject disclosure can be implemented. While the embodiments havebeen described above in the general context of computer-executableinstructions that can run on one or more computers, those skilled in theart will recognize that the embodiments can be also implemented incombination with other program modules and/or as a combination ofhardware and software.

Generally, program modules comprise routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the inventive methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, comprising single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, as used in theclaims, unless otherwise clear by context, is for clarity only anddoesn't otherwise indicate or imply any order in time. For instance, “afirst determination,” “a second determination,” and “a thirddetermination,” does not indicate or imply that the first determinationis to be made before the second determination, or vice versa, etc.

The illustrated embodiments of the embodiments herein can be alsopracticed in distributed computing environments where certain tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Computing devices typically comprise a variety of media, which cancomprise computer-readable storage media and/or communications media,which two terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and comprises both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structured dataor unstructured data.

Computer-readable storage media can comprise, but are not limited to,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technology, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devicesor other tangible and/or non-transitory media which can be used to storedesired information. In this regard, the terms “tangible” or“non-transitory” herein as applied to storage, memory orcomputer-readable media, are to be understood to exclude onlypropagating transitory signals per se as modifiers and do not relinquishrights to all standard storage, memory or computer-readable media thatare not only propagating transitory signals per se.

Computer-readable storage media can be accessed by one or more local orremote computing devices, e.g., via access requests, queries or otherdata retrieval protocols, for a variety of operations with respect tothe information stored by the medium.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrierwave or other transport mechanism, and comprises any informationdelivery or transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signalsrefers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set orchanged in such a manner as to encode information in one or moresignals. By way of example, and not limitation, communication mediacomprise wired media, such as a wired network or direct-wiredconnection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and otherwireless media.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 17, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

With reference again to FIG. 19, the example environment 1900 fortransmitting and receiving signals via or forming at least part of abase station (e.g., base station devices 102, 104, or 520). At least aportion of the example environment 1900 can also be used for repeaterdevices (e.g., repeater devices 710, or 806). The example environmentcan comprise a computer 1902, the computer 1902 comprising a processingunit 1904, a system memory 1906 and a system bus 1908. The system bus1908 couples system components including, but not limited to, the systemmemory 1906 to the processing unit 1904. The processing unit 1904 can beany of various commercially available processors. Dual microprocessorsand other multi-processor architectures can also be employed as theprocessing unit 1904.

The system bus 1908 can be any of several types of bus structure thatcan further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 1906comprises ROM 1910 and RAM 1912. A basic input/output system (BIOS) canbe stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routinesthat help to transfer information between elements within the computer1902, such as during startup. The RAM 1912 can also comprise ahigh-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 1902 further comprises an internal hard disk drive (HDD)1914 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal hard disk drive 1914 can also beconfigured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown), amagnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 1916, (e.g., to read from or write to aremovable diskette 1918) and an optical disk drive 1920, (e.g., readinga CD-ROM disk 1922 or, to read from or write to other high capacityoptical media such as the DVD). The hard disk drive 1914, magnetic diskdrive 1916 and optical disk drive 1920 can be connected to the systembus 1908 by a hard disk drive interface 1924, a magnetic disk driveinterface 1926 and an optical drive interface 1928, respectively. Theinterface 1924 for external drive implementations comprises at least oneor both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface technologies. Other externaldrive connection technologies are within contemplation of theembodiments described herein.

The drives and their associated computer-readable storage media providenonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For the computer 1902, the drives andstorage media accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digitalformat. Although the description of computer-readable storage mediaabove refers to a hard disk drive (HDD), a removable magnetic diskette,and a removable optical media such as a CD or DVD, it should beappreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of storagemedia which are readable by a computer, such as zip drives, magneticcassettes, flash memory cards, cartridges, and the like, can also beused in the example operating environment, and further, that any suchstorage media can contain computer-executable instructions forperforming the methods described herein.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 1912,comprising an operating system 1930, one or more application programs1932, other program modules 1934 and program data 1936. All or portionsof the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 1912. The systems and methods described herein can beimplemented utilizing various commercially available operating systemsor combinations of operating systems. Examples of application programs1932 that can be implemented and otherwise executed by processing unit1904 include the diversity selection determining performed by repeaterdevice 806. Communications interface 501 shown in FIG. 5, also hasstored on memory many applications and programs that can be executed byprocessing unit 1904 in this exemplary computing environment 1900.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 1902 throughone or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard 1938 and apointing device, such as a mouse 1940. Other input devices (not shown)can comprise a microphone, an infrared (IR) remote control, a joystick,a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen or the like. These and otherinput devices are often connected to the processing unit 1904 through aninput device interface 1942 that can be coupled to the system bus 1908,but can be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, anIEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a universal serial bus (USB) port,an IR interface, etc.

A monitor 1944 or other type of display device can be also connected tothe system bus 1908 via an interface, such as a video adapter 1946. Itwill also be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, a monitor 1944can also be any display device (e.g., another computer having a display,a smart phone, a tablet computer, etc.) for receiving displayinformation associated with computer 1902 via any communication means,including via the Internet and cloud-based networks. In addition to themonitor 1944, a computer typically comprises other peripheral outputdevices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 1902 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 1948. The remotecomputer(s) 1948 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallycomprises many or all of the elements described relative to the computer1902, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device1950 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted comprisewired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 1952 and/orlarger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 1954. Such LAN and WANnetworking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, andfacilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all ofwhich can connect to a global communications network, e.g., theInternet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1902 can beconnected to the local network 1952 through a wired and/or wirelesscommunication network interface or adapter 1956. The adapter 1956 canfacilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 1952, which canalso comprise a wireless AP disposed thereon for communicating with thewireless adapter 1956.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1902 cancomprise a modem 1958 or can be connected to a communications server onthe WAN 1954 or has other means for establishing communications over theWAN 1954, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 1958, which can beinternal or external and a wired or wireless device, can be connected tothe system bus 1908 via the input device interface 1942. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1902 orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device1950. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexample and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

The computer 1902 can be operable to communicate with any wirelessdevices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication,e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portabledata assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment orlocation associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk,news stand, restroom), and telephone. This can comprise WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) and BLUETOOTH® wireless technologies. Thus, thecommunication can be a predefined structure as with a conventionalnetwork or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

Wi-Fi can allow connection to the Internet from a couch at home, a bedin a hotel room or a conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is awireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enablessuch devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out;anywhere within the range of a base station. Wi-Fi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, n, ac, etc.) to providesecure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can beused to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wirednetworks (which can use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networks operatein the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands for example or with productsthat contain both bands (dual band), so the networks can providereal-world performance similar to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernetnetworks used in many offices.

FIG. 20 presents an example embodiment 2000 of a mobile network platform2010 that can implement and exploit one or more aspects of the disclosedsubject matter described herein. In one or more embodiments, the mobilenetwork platform 2010 can generate and receive signals transmitted andreceived by base stations (e.g., base station devices 102, 104 or 520)or repeater devices (e.g., repeater devices 710, or 806) associated withthe disclosed subject matter. Generally, wireless network platform 2010can comprise components, e.g., nodes, gateways, interfaces, servers, ordisparate platforms, that facilitate both packet-switched (PS) (e.g.,internet protocol (IP), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM))and circuit-switched (CS) traffic (e.g., voice and data), as well ascontrol generation for networked wireless telecommunication. As anon-limiting example, wireless network platform 2010 can be included intelecommunications carrier networks, and can be considered carrier-sidecomponents as discussed elsewhere herein. Mobile network platform 2010comprises CS gateway node(s) 2012 which can interface CS trafficreceived from legacy networks like telephony network(s) 2040 (e.g.,public switched telephone network (PSTN), or public land mobile network(PLMN)) or a signaling system #7 (SS7) network 2070. Circuit switchedgateway node(s) 2012 can authorize and authenticate traffic (e.g.,voice) arising from such networks. Additionally, CS gateway node(s) 2012can access mobility, or roaming, data generated through SS7 network2070; for instance, mobility data stored in a visited location register(VLR), which can reside in memory 2030. Moreover, CS gateway node(s)2012 interfaces CS-based traffic and signaling and PS gateway node(s)2018. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, CS gateway node(s) 2012 canbe realized at least in part in gateway GPRS support node(s) (GGSN). Itshould be appreciated that functionality and specific operation of CSgateway node(s) 2012, PS gateway node(s) 2018, and serving node(s) 2016,is provided and dictated by radio technology(ies) utilized by mobilenetwork platform 2010 for telecommunication.

In addition to receiving and processing CS-switched traffic andsignaling, PS gateway node(s) 2018 can authorize and authenticatePS-based data sessions with served mobile devices. Data sessions cancomprise traffic, or content(s), exchanged with networks external to thewireless network platform 2010, like wide area network(s) (WANs) 2050,enterprise network(s) 2070, and service network(s) 2080, which can beembodied in local area network(s) (LANs), can also be interfaced withmobile network platform 2010 through PS gateway node(s) 2018. It is tobe noted that WANs 2050 and enterprise network(s) 2060 can embody, atleast in part, a service network(s) like IP multimedia subsystem (IMS).Based on radio technology layer(s) available in technology resource(s)2017, packet-switched gateway node(s) 2018 can generate packet dataprotocol contexts when a data session is established; other datastructures that facilitate routing of packetized data also can begenerated. To that end, in an aspect, PS gateway node(s) 2018 cancomprise a tunnel interface (e.g., tunnel termination gateway (TTG) in3GPP UMTS network(s) (not shown)) which can facilitate packetizedcommunication with disparate wireless network(s), such as Wi-Finetworks.

In embodiment 2000, wireless network platform 2010 also comprisesserving node(s) 2016 that, based upon available radio technologylayer(s) within technology resource(s) 2017, convey the variouspacketized flows of data streams received through PS gateway node(s)2018. It is to be noted that for technology resource(s) 2017 that relyprimarily on CS communication, server node(s) can deliver trafficwithout reliance on PS gateway node(s) 2018; for example, server node(s)can embody at least in part a mobile switching center. As an example, ina 3GPP UMTS network, serving node(s) 2016 can be embodied in servingGPRS support node(s) (SGSN).

For radio technologies that exploit packetized communication, server(s)2014 in wireless network platform 2010 can execute numerous applicationsthat can generate multiple disparate packetized data streams or flows,and manage (e.g., schedule, queue, format . . . ) such flows. Suchapplication(s) can comprise add-on features to standard services (forexample, provisioning, billing, customer support . . . ) provided bywireless network platform 2010. Data streams (e.g., content(s) that arepart of a voice call or data session) can be conveyed to PS gatewaynode(s) 2018 for authorization/authentication and initiation of a datasession, and to serving node(s) 2016 for communication thereafter. Inaddition to application server, server(s) 2014 can comprise utilityserver(s), a utility server can comprise a provisioning server, anoperations and maintenance server, a security server that can implementat least in part a certificate authority and firewalls as well as othersecurity mechanisms, and the like. In an aspect, security server(s)secure communication served through wireless network platform 2010 toensure network's operation and data integrity in addition toauthorization and authentication procedures that CS gateway node(s) 2012and PS gateway node(s) 2018 can enact. Moreover, provisioning server(s)can provision services from external network(s) like networks operatedby a disparate service provider; for instance, WAN 2050 or GlobalPositioning System (GPS) network(s) (not shown). Provisioning server(s)can also provision coverage through networks associated to wirelessnetwork platform 2010 (e.g., deployed and operated by the same serviceprovider), such as the distributed antennas networks shown in FIG. 1(s)that enhance wireless service coverage by providing more networkcoverage. Repeater devices such as those shown in FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 alsoimprove network coverage in order to enhance subscriber serviceexperience by way of UE 2075.

It is to be noted that server(s) 2014 can comprise one or moreprocessors configured to confer at least in part the functionality ofmacro network platform 2010. To that end, the one or more processor canexecute code instructions stored in memory 2030, for example. It isshould be appreciated that server(s) 2014 can comprise a content manager2015, which operates in substantially the same manner as describedhereinbefore.

In example embodiment 2000, memory 2030 can store information related tooperation of wireless network platform 2010. Other operationalinformation can comprise provisioning information of mobile devicesserved through wireless platform network 2010, subscriber databases;application intelligence, pricing schemes, e.g., promotional rates,flat-rate programs, couponing campaigns; technical specification(s)consistent with telecommunication protocols for operation of disparateradio, or wireless, technology layers; and so forth. Memory 2030 canalso store information from at least one of telephony network(s) 2040,WAN 2050, enterprise network(s) 2060, or SS7 network 2070. In an aspect,memory 2030 can be, for example, accessed as part of a data storecomponent or as a remotely connected memory store.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIG. 20, and the following discussion, are intended toprovide a brief, general description of a suitable environment in whichthe various aspects of the disclosed subject matter can be implemented.While the subject matter has been described above in the general contextof computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on acomputer and/or computers, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe disclosed subject matter also can be implemented in combination withother program modules. Generally, program modules comprise routines,programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particulartasks and/or implement particular abstract data types.

FIG. 21 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication device2100. The communication device 2100 can serve as an illustrativeembodiment of devices such as mobile devices and in-building devicesreferred to by the subject disclosure (e.g., in FIGS. 1 and 14).

The communication device 2100 can comprise a wireline and/or wirelesstransceiver 2102 (herein transceiver 2102), a user interface (UI) 2104,a power supply 2114, a location receiver 2116, a motion sensor 2118, anorientation sensor 2120, and a controller 2106 for managing operationsthereof. The transceiver 2102 can support short-range or long-rangewireless access technologies such as Bluetooth®, ZigBee®, WiFi, DECT, orcellular communication technologies, just to mention a few (Bluetooth®and ZigBee® are trademarks registered by the Bluetooth® Special InterestGroup and the ZigBee® Alliance, respectively). Cellular technologies caninclude, for example, CDMA-1×, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO,WiMAX, SDR, LTE, as well as other next generation wireless communicationtechnologies as they arise. The transceiver 2102 can also be adapted tosupport circuit-switched wireline access technologies (such as PSTN),packet-switched wireline access technologies (such as TCP/IP, VoIP,etc.), and combinations thereof.

The UI 2104 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 2108with a navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, a joystick, a mouse,or a navigation disk for manipulating operations of the communicationdevice 2100. The keypad 2108 can be an integral part of a housingassembly of the communication device 2100 or an independent deviceoperably coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface (such as a USBcable) or a wireless interface supporting for example Bluetooth®. Thekeypad 2108 can represent a numeric keypad commonly used by phones,and/or a QWERTY keypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI 2104 can furtherinclude a display 2110 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid CrystalDisplay), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable displaytechnology for conveying images to an end user of the communicationdevice 2100. In an embodiment where the display 2110 is touch-sensitive,a portion or all of the keypad 2108 can be presented by way of thedisplay 2110 with navigation features.

The display 2110 can use touch screen technology to also serve as a userinterface for detecting user input. As a touch screen display, thecommunication device 2100 can be adapted to present a user interfacehaving graphical user interface (GUI) elements that can be selected by auser with a touch of a finger. The touch screen display 2110 can beequipped with capacitive, resistive or other forms of sensing technologyto detect how much surface area of a user's finger has been placed on aportion of the touch screen display. This sensing information can beused to control the manipulation of the GUI elements or other functionsof the user interface. The display 2110 can be an integral part of thehousing assembly of the communication device 2100 or an independentdevice communicatively coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface(such as a cable) or a wireless interface.

The UI 2104 can also include an audio system 2112 that utilizes audiotechnology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heard inproximity of a human ear) and high volume audio (such as speakerphonefor hands free operation). The audio system 2112 can further include amicrophone for receiving audible signals of an end user. The audiosystem 2112 can also be used for voice recognition applications. The UI2104 can further include an image sensor 2113 such as a charged coupleddevice (CCD) camera for capturing still or moving images.

The power supply 2114 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable and rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and/or charging system technologies for supplying energyto the components of the communication device 2100 to facilitatelong-range or short-range portable communications. Alternatively, or incombination, the charging system can utilize external power sources suchas DC power supplied over a physical interface such as a USB port orother suitable tethering technologies.

The location receiver 2116 can utilize location technology such as aglobal positioning system (GPS) receiver capable of assisted GPS foridentifying a location of the communication device 2100 based on signalsgenerated by a constellation of GPS satellites, which can be used forfacilitating location services such as navigation. The motion sensor2118 can utilize motion sensing technology such as an accelerometer, agyroscope, or other suitable motion sensing technology to detect motionof the communication device 2100 in three-dimensional space. Theorientation sensor 2120 can utilize orientation sensing technology suchas a magnetometer to detect the orientation of the communication device2100 (north, south, west, and east, as well as combined orientations indegrees, minutes, or other suitable orientation metrics).

The communication device 2100 can use the transceiver 2102 to alsodetermine a proximity to a cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth®, or other wirelessaccess points by sensing techniques such as utilizing a received signalstrength indicator (RSSI) and/or signal time of arrival (TOA) or time offlight (TOF) measurements. The controller 2106 can utilize computingtechnologies such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP),programmable gate arrays, application specific integrated circuits,and/or a video processor with associated storage memory such as Flash,ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologies for executingcomputer instructions, controlling, and processing data supplied by theaforementioned components of the communication device 2100.

Other components not shown in FIG. 21 can be used in one or moreembodiments of the subject disclosure. For instance, the communicationdevice 2100 can include a slot for adding or removing an identity modulesuch as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or Universal IntegratedCircuit Card (UICC). SIM or UICC cards can be used for identifyingsubscriber services, executing programs, storing subscriber data, and soon.

In the subject specification, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “datastore,” data storage,” “database,” and substantially any otherinformation storage component relevant to operation and functionality ofa component, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a“memory” or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciatedthat the memory components described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory, or can comprise both volatile andnonvolatile memory, by way of illustration, and not limitation, volatilememory, non-volatile memory, disk storage, and memory storage. Further,nonvolatile memory can be included in read only memory (ROM),programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory cancomprise random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cachememory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available inmany forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems or methodsherein are intended to comprise, without being limited to comprising,these and any other suitable types of memory.

Moreover, it will be noted that the disclosed subject matter can bepracticed with other computer system configurations, comprisingsingle-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, mini-computingdevices, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-heldcomputing devices (e.g., PDA, phone, watch, tablet computers, netbookcomputers, etc.), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer orindustrial electronics, and the like. The illustrated aspects can alsobe practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network; however, some if not all aspects of the subjectdisclosure can be practiced on stand-alone computers. In a distributedcomputing environment, program modules can be located in both local andremote memory storage devices.

Some of the embodiments described herein can also employ artificialintelligence (AI) to facilitate automating one or more featuresdescribed herein. For example, artificial intelligence can be used todetermine positions around a wire that dielectric waveguides 604 and 606should be placed in order to maximize transfer efficiency. Theembodiments (e.g., in connection with automatically identifying acquiredcell sites that provide a maximum value/benefit after addition to anexisting communication network) can employ various AI-based schemes forcarrying out various embodiments thereof. Moreover, the classifier canbe employed to determine a ranking or priority of the each cell site ofthe acquired network. A classifier is a function that maps an inputattribute vector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, . . . , xn), to a confidence thatthe input belongs to a class, that is, f(x)=confidence(class). Suchclassification can employ a probabilistic and/or statistical-basedanalysis (e.g., factoring into the analysis utilities and costs) toprognose or infer an action that a user desires to be automaticallyperformed. A support vector machine (SVM) is an example of a classifierthat can be employed. The SVM operates by finding a hypersurface in thespace of possible inputs, which the hypersurface attempts to split thetriggering criteria from the non-triggering events. Intuitively, thismakes the classification correct for testing data that is near, but notidentical to training data. Other directed and undirected modelclassification approaches comprise, e.g., naïve Bayes, Bayesiannetworks, decision trees, neural networks, fuzzy logic models, andprobabilistic classification models providing different patterns ofindependence can be employed. Classification as used herein also isinclusive of statistical regression that is utilized to develop modelsof priority.

As will be readily appreciated, one or more of the embodiments canemploy classifiers that are explicitly trained (e.g., via a generictraining data) as well as implicitly trained (e.g., via observing UEbehavior, operator preferences, historical information, receivingextrinsic information). For example, SVMs can be configured via alearning or training phase within a classifier constructor and featureselection module. Thus, the classifier(s) can be used to automaticallylearn and perform a number of functions, including but not limited todetermining according to a predetermined criteria which of the acquiredcell sites will benefit a maximum number of subscribers and/or which ofthe acquired cell sites will add minimum value to the existingcommunication network coverage, etc.

As used in some contexts in this application, in some embodiments, theterms “component,” “system” and the like are intended to refer to, orcomprise, a computer-related entity or an entity related to anoperational apparatus with one or more specific functionalities, whereinthe entity can be either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. As an example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,computer-executable instructions, a program, and/or a computer. By wayof illustration and not limitation, both an application running on aserver and the server can be a component. One or more components mayreside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component maybe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. In addition, these components can execute from variouscomputer readable media having various data structures stored thereon.The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such asin accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., datafrom one component interacting with another component in a local system,distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet withother systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be anapparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical partsoperated by electric or electronic circuitry, which is operated by asoftware or firmware application executed by a processor, wherein theprocessor can be internal or external to the apparatus and executes atleast a part of the software or firmware application. As yet anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus that provides specificfunctionality through electronic components without mechanical parts,the electronic components can comprise a processor therein to executesoftware or firmware that confers at least in part the functionality ofthe electronic components. While various components have beenillustrated as separate components, it will be appreciated that multiplecomponents can be implemented as a single component, or a singlecomponent can be implemented as multiple components, without departingfrom example embodiments.

Further, the various embodiments can be implemented as a method,apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device or computer-readable storage/communicationsmedia. For example, computer readable storage media can include, but arenot limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk,magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digitalversatile disk (DVD)), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g.,card, stick, key drive). Of course, those skilled in the art willrecognize many modifications can be made to this configuration withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the various embodiments.

In addition, the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an instance or illustration. Any embodiment or designdescribed herein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments ordesigns. Rather, use of the word example or exemplary is intended topresent concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, theterm “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive“or”. That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “Xemploys A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusivepermutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both Aand B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoinginstances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication and the appended claims should generally be construed tomean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context tobe directed to a singular form.

Moreover, terms such as “user equipment,” “mobile station,” “mobile,”subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “handset,” “mobiledevice” (and/or terms representing similar terminology) can refer to awireless device utilized by a subscriber or user of a wirelesscommunication service to receive or convey data, control, voice, video,sound, gaming or substantially any data-stream or signaling-stream. Theforegoing terms are utilized interchangeably herein and with referenceto the related drawings.

Furthermore, the terms “user,” “subscriber,” “customer,” “consumer” andthe like are employed interchangeably throughout, unless contextwarrants particular distinctions among the terms. It should beappreciated that such terms can refer to human entities or automatedcomponents supported through artificial intelligence (e.g., a capacityto make inference based, at least, on complex mathematical formalisms),which can provide simulated vision, sound recognition and so forth.

As employed herein, the term “processor” can refer to substantially anycomputing processing unit or device comprising, but not limited tocomprising, single-core processors; single-processors with softwaremultithread execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-coreprocessors with software multithread execution capability; multi-coreprocessors with hardware multithread technology; parallel platforms; andparallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, aprocessor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), acomplex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistorlogic, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designedto perform the functions described herein. Processors can exploitnano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular andquantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimizespace usage or enhance performance of user equipment. A processor canalso be implemented as a combination of computing processing units.

As used herein, terms such as “data storage,” data storage,” “database,”and substantially any other information storage component relevant tooperation and functionality of a component, refer to “memorycomponents,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components comprisingthe memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components orcomputer-readable storage media, described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory.

What has been described above includes mere examples of variousembodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing these examples, but one of ordinary skill in the art canrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the presentembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed and/orclaimed herein are intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes”is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term isintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as“comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in aclaim.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement which achieves thesame or similar purpose may be substituted for the embodiments describedor shown by the subject disclosure. The subject disclosure is intendedto cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, can be used in the subject disclosure.For instance, one or more features from one or more embodiments can becombined with one or more features of one or more other embodiments. Inone or more embodiments, features that are positively recited can alsobe negatively recited and excluded from the embodiment with or withoutreplacement by another structural and/or functional feature. The stepsor functions described with respect to the embodiments of the subjectdisclosure can be performed in any order. The steps or functionsdescribed with respect to the embodiments of the subject disclosure canbe performed alone or in combination with other steps or functions ofthe subject disclosure, as well as from other embodiments or from othersteps that have not been described in the subject disclosure. Further,more than or less than all of the features described with respect to anembodiment can also be utilized.

1. An apparatus, comprising: a waveguide system comprising a dielectriccoupler, wherein the dielectric coupler is positioned with respect to atransmission medium, wherein the dielectric coupler facilitatestransmission or reception of electromagnetic waves that propagate alongan outer surface of the transmission medium without requiring anelectrical return path, wherein the electromagnetic waves at leastpartially surround the transmission medium, wherein the transmissionmedium serves as a transmission line for propagating the electromagneticwaves along the outer surface of the transmission medium, and whereinthe electromagnetic waves propagate along the dielectric coupler withoutrequiring an electrical return path; and a sensor that facilitatessensing a condition that is adverse to an operation of the waveguidesystem associated with the transmission or the reception of theelectromagnetic waves, or the transmission or reception of theelectromagnetic waves that propagate along the outer surface of thetransmission medium.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensorfacilitates sensing one of reflections of the electromagnetic waves thatpropagate on the outer surface of the transmission medium, temperaturechanges on the transmission medium, a loss of electric energy in thetransmission medium, electromagnetic noise on the transmission medium, acorona emitted by the transmission medium, a vibration on the outersurface of the transmission medium, a defective joint between thetransmission medium and another transmission medium, a corrosion on thetransmission medium, a power grid device coupled to the transmissionmedium that adversely affects the transmission or reception of theelectromagnetic waves that propagate on the outer surface of thetransmission medium, or weather conditions in a vicinity of thetransmission medium.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensorfacilitates transmission of a test signal by the waveguide system todetect a disturbance source on the transmission medium that adverselyaffects the transmission or reception of the electromagnetic waves thatpropagate on the outer surface of the transmission medium.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 3, wherein the sensor facilitates identifying alocation of the disturbance source on the transmission medium accordingto a reflection of the test signal from the disturbance source receivedby the sensor via the waveguide system.
 5. The apparatus of claim 3,wherein the sensor facilitates identifying the disturbance source bycomparing electromagnetic wave reflections of the test signal receivedby the sensor to profiles comprising models of types of electromagneticwave reflections of the test signal originating from types ofdisturbance sources that affect the transmission or reception of theelectromagnetic waves that propagate on the outer surface of thetransmission medium.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensorfacilitates collecting images in a vicinity of the transmission medium.7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor facilitates predictingan event that adversely affects one of the waveguide system, or thetransmission or reception of the electromagnetic waves that propagate onthe outer surface of the transmission medium.
 8. The apparatus of claim1, further comprising a communications interface, coupled to the sensor,that facilitates transmission of sensing data to a network element toreport one or more conditions in a vicinity of the waveguide system. 9.The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the network element comprises awireless device, and wherein the communications interface furtherfacilitates transmission of one of identification information associatedwith the one or more conditions, a first location coordinate associatedwith the one or more conditions, or a second location coordinateassociated with the waveguide system.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9,further comprising a location detector that facilitates generation ofthe second location coordinate.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising an energy management system that facilitates managing powersupplied to the sensor.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein theenergy management system comprises a backup battery that provides backupenergy to the sensor, wherein the backup battery comprises one of abattery cell, or a capacitor.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein theenergy management system facilitates obtaining energy from thetransmission medium by electrical coupling to the transmission medium,by inductive coupling to the transmission medium, by solar energy, orkinetic energy.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatusfurther comprises a processor coupled to the waveguide system and thesensor, wherein the processor facilitates processing of sensing datafrom the sensor and control of the transmission or reception of theelectromagnetic waves that propagate along the outer surface of thetransmission medium.
 15. A method, comprising: transmitting, by anapparatus comprising a waveguide system and a sensor, electromagneticwaves that propagate along an outer surface of a transmission mediumwithout requiring an electrical return path, wherein the waveguidesystem comprises a dielectric coupler that facilitates coupling of theelectromagnetic waves onto the outer surface of the transmission medium,wherein the electromagnetic waves at least partially surround thetransmission medium, wherein the transmission medium serves as atransmission line for propagating the electromagnetic waves along theouter surface of the transmission medium, and wherein theelectromagnetic waves propagate along the dielectric coupler withoutrequiring an electrical return path; and sensing, by the sensor, acondition that is adverse to the electromagnetic waves that propagatealong the outer surface of the transmission medium.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising reporting the condition sensed by thesensor.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the transmission medium ispart of a power grid of a power utility company, and wherein the sensorfacilitates sensing one of reflections of the electromagnetic waves thatpropagate along the outer surface of the transmission medium,temperature changes on the transmission medium, a loss of electricenergy in the transmission medium, an electromagnetic noise on thetransmission medium, a corona emitted by the transmission medium, avibration on the outer surface of the transmission medium, a defectivejoint between the transmission medium and another transmission medium, acorrosion on the transmission medium, a power grid device coupled to thetransmission medium that adversely affects the electromagnetic wavesthat propagate along the outer surface of the transmission medium, orweather conditions in a vicinity of the transmission medium.
 18. Anon-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executableinstructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performanceof operations, comprising: inducing, by a dielectric coupler of awaveguide system, electromagnetic waves to propagate along a surface ofa transmission medium without requiring an electrical return path of thetransmission medium, wherein the electromagnetic waves at leastpartially surround the transmission medium, and wherein theelectromagnetic waves propagate along the dielectric coupler withoutrequiring an electrical return path; and collecting sensing data from asensor, wherein the sensing data is associated with a condition that isadverse to the electromagnetic waves propagating along the surface ofthe transmission medium.
 19. The non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise transmittingthe sensing data to a network element.
 20. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the operationsfurther comprise receiving instructions from the network element toaddress the condition.